AuSI was delighted to connect with Dr Sophie Cooper, social and cultural historian, lecturer and freelance researcher, on the recent First Eight Project UK trip.

Dr Cooper attended the First Eight Project Andrew Fisher lecture held at the University of Edinburgh. From an initial #AUHistory conversation across continents via Twitter, to some wonderful discussions in person – it is clear that social media can play a valuable role in helping to facilitate global conversations.

Dr Cooper's research is focused on Irish migrant communities living in Australia and the United States during the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. She completed her doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Irish Migrant Identities and Community Life in Melbourne and Chicago, 1840-1890’ at the University of Edinburgh in 2017.

‘My doctoral work uses education, religion, civic nationalism, sport, and Irish nationalism to explore the ways that immigrant and second-generation identities were influenced, shaped, and adapted within two cities.’

Dr Cooper is currently a research fellow on the Scottish Irish Migration Initiative (SIMI) based at the University of Edinburgh and working with researchers from Edinburgh and University College Dublin.

An enthusiastic collaborator, Dr Cooper has recently established a network of Australian history scholars in the UK. She previously established the ‘Irish Diaspora Histories Network’ which brings scholars of Irish diaspora histories together to encourage collaboration.

Visit Dr Cooper’s website »