My research interests are interdisciplinary and span the full breadth of what is understood as ‘heritage’, memory and public culture. Within this I have particular specialist knowledge and interests in: difficult histories (in particular in relation to German history); migration, diversity and representation; populism and contested identities, belonging and memory.

In 2020 I was awarded a DAAD grant to undertake a 3-month fellowship at CARMAH, where I am working on a book project focussing on the challenges and paradoxes in museum work that addresses migration.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture, Heritage at Newcastle University, UK, and Associated Research Fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, Potsdam. I am the Project Leader of en/counter/points: (re)negotiating belonging through culture and contact in public space and place – a three-year collaborative research project funded by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area).

Previously I was the deputy project co-ordinator of CoHERE: Critical Heritages – performing and representing identities in Europe, funded by European Commission Horizon 2020 (2016-2019) and a researcher on the European Commission FP7 project MeLA: European Museums in an Age of Migrations (2011-2015).

My recent publications include:

Eckersley, S. (2020) ‘Encountering Authenticity in the Contact Zone? Museums, Refugees and Participation’ In: Kimmel, D. and Brüggerhoff, S. (eds), Museen – Orte des Authentischen? Museums – Places of Authenticity? RGZM Tagungen Vol. 42: Mainz.

Eckersley, S. (2019) ‘A Place at the Table? Food in museums as an ‘Ersatz politics’ of difficulty’ In: Porciani, I. (ed.) Food Heritage and Nationalism in Europe. Routledge: London.

Eckersley, S. (2019) ‘Between appropriation and appropriateness: instrumentalising dark heritage in populism and memory?’ In: Kaya, A and de Cesari, C. (eds) European Memory in Populism: Representations of Self and Other, Routledge: London.

Whitehead, C., Eckersley, S., Daugbjerg, M. Bozoglu, G. (eds.) (2019) Dimensions of European Heritage and Memory, Routledge: London.

Eckersley, S. (2017) ‘People-Place-Process’ and Attachment in the Museum: A New Paradigm for Understanding Belonging? In: Anthropological Journal of European Cultures 2017, 6(2), 6-30.