معرفی
Peter Gray serves as Professor of Modern Irish History at Queen's University Belfast, actively engaged in international research collaborations. In November 2015, he visited the University of New Brunswick through the Fredrik and Catherine Eaton Visitorship Award program, which facilitates academic exchanges between UNB and Queen's University Belfast. During his residency, he conducted archival research at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick and UNB Library while collaborating with faculty across departments.
His research specializes in the intellectual and social history of the Great Irish Famine (1845-50), with particular focus on its transnational impacts and memorialization. Gray examines how contemporary figures like Charles Trevelyan, William Neilson Hancock, and James Fintan Lalor employed providentialist rhetoric and 'social revolution' frameworks to interpret the catastrophe, arguing these discourses marginalized humanitarian responses. His work draws historical parallels between 19th-century Irish refugee crises and modern migration issues, emphasizing the famine's lasting legacy in regions like New Brunswick that received significant Irish immigration.
Gray has been honored with the Fredrik and Catherine Eaton Visitorship Award, recognizing his contribution to international academic collaboration. This fellowship supports cross-institutional research development between Queen's University Belfast and the University of New Brunswick, enabling scholars to expand their projects through global perspectives.
He actively mentors through seminar engagements, as evidenced by his participation in UNB's History Department honours student seminar during his 2015 visit. Gray maintains significant collaborations with scholars including Professor Elizabeth Mancke at UNB and Professor Joanne Wright (who previously held the Eaton Fellowship at Queen's University Belfast), demonstrating his commitment to transnational academic networks. His research methodology combines archival analysis with comparative historical frameworks to examine famine impacts on societies like Saint John, New Brunswick, which received approximately 30,000 Irish immigrants during the crisis period.
