Astrid Swenson

I joined Brunel University in 2010 as Lecturer in European History.

My research focuses on heritage, memory, art and museums in the nineteenth and twentieth century and is essentially driven by three interlinked questions: why and how do attitudes towards the past change, how does knowledge move across cultures, and how does this cultural transfer relate to nationalism, internationalism and imperialism. My book The Rise of Heritage in France, Germany and England, 1789-1914 (Cambridge University Press 2013) examined exchange within Europe and the impact of increasing internationalisation during the long nineteenth century. My current research focuses on heritage and imperialism in the nineteenth and twentieth century. I am also currently preparing a general introductory book on ‘Heritage Histories’.