Biography

Kelsey Hanson is a PhD student at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication. She is a qualitative researcher focusing on socio-political trends in conflict and post-conflict environments. Previously, her work has centered on Belfast, looking at how one neighborhood has experienced and created a sense of place amid conflict and memories of conflict. Her research resulted in the book A Sense of Place: Stories from the North Belfast Care Zone, published in partnership with the non-profit organization PLACE. She has also researched how Belfast’s night economy has been impacted by neoliberal development and lingering spatial division. Her current research examines how collective memory functions within Northern Ireland and how it impacts long-term peace.

She is a former journalist and radio producer with Philadelphia’s local NPR affiliate, WHYY, where she produced award-winning daily live and edited public affairs broadcasts. She graduated cum laude form Villanova with a dual bachelor’s degree in communications and

humanities, peace and justice. She also holds an M.Phil, with distinction, from Trinity College, Dublin.