Maruska Svasek

Maruska Svasek is a Professor in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen's University Belfast, with affiliations to the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. Her research focuses on migration, material culture, emotions, and art, particularly in transnational contexts. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam (1996) and studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Minerva in Groningen.

Key research interests include:

• Migration and transnational families
• Material culture and its agency
• Emotional dynamics in globalized societies
• Art and politics in post-socialist contexts

She has led multiple interdisciplinary projects, including the HERA-funded Creativity and Innovation in a World of Movement and contributed to EU Framework 7's Euroidentities. Awards include the PhD Supervisory Excellence Award (2018) and Staff Excellence Award (2021).

Teaching includes courses like A World on the Move and Anthropology of Material Culture. Current research explores art and politics in Czechoslovakia and pandemic impacts on migrant women.

Her work bridges anthropology, art, and cultural production, emphasizing creative methodologies and transnational collaboration through networks like the Cultural Dynamics and Emotions Network.