Dr Amy Grant

Current research:

My current research examines Britain’s asylum landscape in the late twentieth century, tracing how refugee reception was shaped not only by national policy but also by the actions of local authorities, voluntary organisations, faith networks, and activists. I combine archival research with multi-session life-history interviews to explore how refugees and those who supported them navigated the legal, moral, and political frameworks of protection. As part of the Nation of Refuge project, I am investigating how Britain’s responses to refugee arrivals - formal and informal, national and municipal - have evolved, been contested, and been remembered.

Previous research / background:

My published and ongoing work focuses on Britain’s migration and asylum history between the 1970s and 1990s. I have experience working with a wide range of archival collections, including Home Office, Foreign Office, and Overseas Development records; voluntary sector and refugee association papers; and community-based collections such as the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre.

I have contributed to multiple oral history projects and have developed a methodological approach centred on shared authority and life-history interviewing. In 2022–23, I worked with the lottery funded British Ugandan Asians at 50 (BUA50) project, contributing to oral histories, exhibition materials, and helping to develop a digital legacy website. I have also been involved in local heritage exhibitions, public-facing research, and podcast production.

Research interests:

My areas of interest span the histories of social movements, religion, refugees and migration, and British leftist political groups.

• Modern British migration and asylum history
• Refugee reception, activism, and community mobilisation
• Oral history methodologies and life-history interviewing
• The discretionary workings of the state
• Public history, community archives, and digital curation
• Histories of racialisation, citizenship, and postcolonial Britain