Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Statement
Research Interests
Political anthropology; public ritual; public order and policing; symbolism; ethnicity; nationalism and group identity; research methods; anthropology and public policy; Irish history; Orangeism, use of history and invention of tradition; the mass media; social theory.
My research over 30 years has examined the nature of intergroup conflict on the symbolic landscape. It has particularly looked at the role played by symbols and rituals during the conflict and peace in Northern Ireland. It has been avowedly interdisciplinary, published in journals and books of anthropology, history, geography, social psychology, law, Irish studies and conflict studies. The work has been distinguished by a high level of public engagement and policy impact.
The research publications and work on public policy can be placed within four distinguishable interdisciplinary themes:
Parades and Human Rights: Based on substantive ethnographic and historical research, published in the monograph Orange Parades (Bryan, 2000) and seven high pofile published reports (see Bryan, Dunn and Fraser 1995, Jarman and Bryan 1996; Bryan and Jarman 1998, 1999, 2000; Bryan, Jarman, Caleyron and de Rosa 1998 and Hamilton Jarman and Bryan 2002) this body of work had significant impact on parade disputes, the setting up of the Parades Commission and the work of the NI Human Rights Commission. This was recognised in the Secretary of States autobiogrphy (Mowlam 2000: xvii, 99) and explained in 'Beyond the Academy' (Jarman and Bryan, 2015) and 'Parading Through the Peace Process' (Bryan and Jarman, 2017). For academic analysis see journal articles in Anthropology in Action (2006) and the International Journal of Minority and Group Rights (1997). For legal implications and dispute management see articles in the Chicago Journal of International Law (2005), with Hamilton in the Ohio Journal on Dispute Resolution (2006) and with O'Kelly in Irish Political Studies (2007). St Patrick's Day in Belfast was also the subject of policy report (IIS, 2006) and an edited collection (with Skinner, 2015). In 2022 I was appointed as the chair of the Short Life Working Group on Peaceful Processions in Scotland which published a report 2 Nov 2022.
Flags and the Symbolic Landscape: Built around funding from the ESRC and the Northern Ireland Government this research examined the use of flags on government buildings and, in paticular, the popular flying of flags on 'street furniture' in Norhern Ireland. The findings and policy implications appear in a series of reports published by Institute of Irish Studies and the Senator Geroge J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace Security and Justice (see Bryan and Gillespie 2005; Bryan and Stevenson 2009; Bryan, Gillespie, Stevenson and Bell 2010; Bryan and Pehrson 2012; Nolan, Bryan, Dwyer, Hayward, Radford, Shirlow 2014; Nolan and Bryan 2016). The research is published in SAIS Review of International Affairs (Bryan and McIntish 2005), Building Material (Bryan and Gillespie 2005), Review of Irish Studies in Europe (Bryan 2018) and the impact methodology in Anthropology in Action (2015). For more ethnographic discussions see Bryan and Stevenson (2009) and Bryan (2007). In 2016 I was appointed as the co-chair of the all-party Flags, Identity, Culture and Traditions Commission which published a report in 1 Dec 2021.
Belfast and Shared Space: This research explores the impact of symbols and ritual on people in Northern Ireland, on the city of Belfast and on the peace process. The research is drawn from 3 ESRC research projects undertaken with colleagues from St Andrews University, Limerick University, Manchester University, the Open University and Lancaster University. The work on Belfast is to be published in a monogaph, Civic Identity and Public Space in Belfast (Bryan, Connolly and Nagle, 2019, MUP) and has been published in journal articles Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology (Bryan 2015) and in City (Komarova and Byan 2014) and in a series of book chapters such as Wounded Cities (ed. Schneider and Susser, 2003), Belfast 400 (ed. Connolly, 2012) and Ethnographies of Movement (ed. Komerova and Svasek, 2018). The most recent ESRC project on mobility in Belfast completed in 2018 has results in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers and Mobilites (2018 with Huck, Whyatt, Dixon, Sturgeon Davis and Jarman). My work has developed through work on the Groundswell Project at Queen's University looking at the intersection of good relations, environmental issues and health around the Greenway in East Belfast.
Political Violence and Commemoration: Cutting across the themes above is the role of political violence and commemoration. A critique of the use of the terms 'terorism' published in the journal Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression (Bryan, Kelly, Templer 2011) was followed by a chapter in the Routledge text book Contemporary Debates on Terrorism (ed. Jackson and Sinclair, 2012, reprinted 2018). The parades work has developed into a long term debate with colleagues in contemporary Irish history about the role of commemoration and social remembering. This work was enhanced by 2 AHRC grants with Maie Coleman but has appeared in a series of Journal articles (New Hibernia Review, 2013) and book chapters exploring the Boyne and the Somme (Bryan 2011, 2014) and laterly looking at the role of the historian in commemorative practice (Bryan, 2016). Since 2019 I have worked closely with Dr Brendan Sturgeon and Co-Operation Ireland evaluating the impact of the Communities in Transition funding, part of the Tackling Paramilitarism policy.
Teaching
International Summer School
ANT1007 Us and them: Why do we have in-groups and out-groups? (convenor)
ANT 1006 Introduction to Northern Ireland: History Politics and Anthropology (Convenor)
ANT2038 Hanging out on Street Corners: Public and Applied Anthropology (convenor)
ANT 3135 Ireland and Britain: People Identity Nations (convenor)
ANT 7053 Specialisation - Conflict
ANT 7053 Specialisation - The Anthropology of Ireland: Conflict and Continuity
IRS 7011 Belfast: Place, Identity and Memory in a Contested City
MHY 7092 History and its Audiences: methods and theories
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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R1538CPH: GroundsWell: Community and Data Led Systems Transformation of Urban Green and Blue Space for Population Health
Hunter, R. (PI), Barry, J. (CoI), Bryan, D. (CoI), Clarke, M. (CoI), Ellis, G. (CoI), Garcia, L. (CoI), Jurek-Loughrey, A. (CoI), Kee, F. (CoI), Longo, A. (CoI), Mac Sithigh, D. (CoI), Maguire, A. (CoI), Murtagh, B. (CoI) & O'Neill, C. (CoI)
09/07/2021 → …
Project: Research
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R1316HAP: Museums, Empire and Northern Irish Identity
Bryan, D. (PI) & Reisz, E. (CoI)
07/10/2020 → …
Project: Research
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R1606HIS: Commemorating Partition and Civil Wars in Ireland, 2020-2023
Coleman, M. (PI) & Bryan, D. (CoI)
01/03/2016 → 31/03/2018
Project: Research
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R1582HIS: The Belfast Mobility Project: Intergroup contact, segregation and the time geography of sectarian relations in North Belfast
Bryan, D. (PI)
25/01/2016 → 31/01/2018
Project: Research
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R1429HIS: Northern Ireland's 2016: Approaching the contested commemoration of the Easter Rising and the Somme
Coleman, M. (PI) & Bryan, D. (CoI)
08/07/2014 → 31/12/2015
Project: Research
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The impact of intimidation on the work of Registered Housing Associations (NI) and the allocation of housing
Sturgeon, B., Faulkner-Byrne, L. & Bryan, D., 28 Jan 2025, Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations. 27 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open AccessFile19 Downloads (Pure) -
Orange parades in Northern Ireland: impacting ‘the life of the community’
Bryan, D., 21 Mar 2024, The Oxford handbook of peaceful public assembly . Abu El-Haj, T., Hamilton, M., Probert, T. & Srinivasan, S. (eds.). Oxford University Press, 15 p. (Oxford Handbooks).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Open Access -
Rethinking the association between green space and crime using spatial quantile regression modelling: Do vegetation type, crime type, and crime rates matter?
Wang, R., Cleland, C., Weir, R., McManus, S., Martire, A., Grekousis, G., Bryan, D. & Hunter, R., Nov 2024, In: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. 101, 128523.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Citations (Scopus)39 Downloads (Pure) -
Understanding the persistence of armed/paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland
Sturgeon, B., Morrow , D., Geddes, L., Bryan, D., McAlister, S., Hazelden, C. & Sheridan, P., 24 Aug 2024, Access Research Knowledge (ARK). 12 p. (ARK Working Papers)Research output: Book/Report › Other report
Open AccessFile196 Downloads (Pure) -
Fuzzy Bayesian inference for mapping vague and place-based regions: a case study of sectarian territory
Huck, J. J., Whyatt, D., Davies, G., Dixon, J., Sturgeon, B., Hocking, B., Tredoux, C., Jarman, N. & Bryan, D., 06 Jul 2023, In: International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 37, 8, p. 1765-1786 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Citations (Scopus)34 Downloads (Pure)
Activities
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Launch of ARK working paper: Understanding the persistence of armed/paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland
Sturgeon, B. (Organiser), McAlister, S. (Organiser), Devine, P. (Organiser), Bryan, D. (Speaker), Morrow, D. (Speaker) & Geddes, L. (Speaker)
28 Aug 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
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Understanding Northern Ireland
Bryan, D. (Invited speaker)
30 May 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Culture Comes Before History: Ethnographic notes on the politics of commemoration in Northern Ireland
Bryan, D. (Keynote speaker)
05 Mar 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
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Belfast Tour - Mitchell Scholars
Bryan, D. (Presenter)
24 Feb 2024Activity: Other activity types › Other
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Troubled Narratives? Officer perspectives on Policing in Contemporary Belfast
Bryan, D. (Examiner)
29 Jan 2024Activity: Examination types › PhD external examination
Press/Media
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Report 'ignores the IRA'
McAlister, S., Sturgeon, B., Bryan, D., Geddes, L., Morrow , D., Hazelden, C. & Sheridan, P.
29/08/2024
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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New research explores continued presence of paramilitary groups in NI
McAlister, S., Sturgeon, B., Bryan, D., Morrow , D., Geddes, L., Hazelden, C. & Sheridan, P.
29/08/2024
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Paramilitaries still exist here as they are relevant in some communities - study says
McAlister, S., Sturgeon, B., Bryan, D., Morrow , D., Geddes, L., Sheridan, P. & Hazelden, C.
29/08/2024
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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New research explores continued presence of paramilitary groups in NI
McAlister, S., Sturgeon, B., Bryan, D., Morrow , D., Geddes, L., Hazelden, C. & Sheridan, P.
28/08/2024
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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New research explores continued presence of paramilitary groups in NI
McAlister, S., Sturgeon, B., Bryan, D., Morrow , D., Geddes, L., Hazelden, C. & Sheridan, P.
28/08/2024
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research