معرفی
Professor Maggie O'Neill is a prominent sociologist and criminologist at University College Cork (UCC), serving as Director of ISS21 (Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century) and UCC Futures: Collective Social Futures. Previously, she held chairs at the University of York and Durham University, including roles as Principal of Ustinov College. Her work centers on inter-disciplinary research, particularly participatory action research, arts-based methods, and social justice advocacy. She earned her PhD in Sociology in 1996, exploring feminist participatory action research with sex workers.
Her research focuses on migration, carceral systems, gendered violence, and marginalized communities. Notable projects include the East London Project evaluating sex worker safety and the WalkCreate initiative using walking methodologies for social change. She is an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. O'Neill actively contributes to academic governance, serving on the Executive Committee of the European Sociological Association and leading roles in research networks like RN3 'Biographical Perspectives on European Societies'. She also engages in policy advocacy through roles at the Global Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Network and Irish Sex Work Research Network.
Her methodologies emphasize creative and embodied practices, including participatory theatre, walking interviews, and visual ethnography. Recent work addresses transformative justice in education, racialized migrant experiences, and resistance to hostile environment policies. Over 150 publications span criminology, sociology, and cultural studies, advocating for socially engaged scholarship.
In teaching and leadership, she promotes prison-university partnerships and pedagogical innovation. Her work intertwines academic rigor with community-driven research, aiming to create equitable social futures through interdisciplinary collaboration and methodological creativity.
