Michael Stewart

Michael Stewart is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at University College London (UCL), specializing in Romany/Gypsy studies, post-socialist transitions, and ethnographic film. He has held academic positions since 1987, including roles at LSE and Cambridge, and remains an active researcher and educator.

• PhD in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics (1988)

His research focuses on ethnic marginality, socialist economic systems, and the intersection of anthropology with documentary filmmaking. He has led international projects like the EU-funded Marie Curie Series of Seminars on Romany Studies and a study on ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, Romania, and Serbia.

Stewart has received prestigious awards including a BAFTA nomination, European Community Humanitarian Office Television Award, and Collegium Budapest fellowship. He has supervised numerous PhD students and Marie Curie Fellows working on Romany issues, migration, and post-communist societies.

As an educator, he developed courses on ethnographic film, socialist/post-socialist societies, and Romany culture. He co-founded the Roma Research Network (2008) and Open City London Documentary Film Festival (2011), emphasizing the power of visual anthropology.