Dr Lauren O'Hagan

Professional biography

Lauren's research can be broadly split into four main strands:

1. Book inscriptions, multimodal literacy and performances of social class: She has investigated how different class groups in the late 19th/early 20th century used book inscriptions to contest or perpetuate their class identities by using language, image, colour, typography, texture and materiality. An important aspect of this research has been unlocking the 'hidden histories' of working-class and lower-middle-class individuals who have typically been left out of official records of the Edwardian era.
 
2. Food advertising/packaging and public health communication: She has traced how language and other semiotic resources have historically been used by food companies to promote supposedly healthy eating discourses and convince consumers that products are “healthy". She has also explored the historical origins of seemingly contemporary food fads, as well as the long history of scientific discourse in food marketing.
 
3. Postcards, posters and propaganda: She has a keen interest in the historical use of postcards and posters to promote and spread political propaganda in a palatable format to the general public. Her research interests lie particularly in the UK women’s suffrage movement and the Irish fight for Home Rule in the early 20th century, but she has also researched the 1922 prohibition referendum in Sweden.
 
4. Music memorabilia, memories and identities: She has researched music memorabilia, particularly items of clothing and personal possessions, and how they are used by fans to signal individual and collective identity. She is also interested in (online) fandoms, participatory culture and expressions of parasocial grief and collective mourning on social media, as well as media representations of Irish musicians. Her interests also lie more generally in the history, sociology and musicology of 20th-century Irish popular music, particularly the music and life of blues musician Rory Gallagher.

Although Lauren’s current role does not involve teaching or supervision responsibilities, she has previous experience in these areas within university and college settings. She has taught Sociolinguistics at undergraduate and postgraduate level (Cardiff University), and English as a Foreign Language in the community with international students, migrants and refugees (Cardiff and Vale College). She has supervised MA students in Strategic Communication (Örebro University, Sweden) and research assistants on her Reading, Writing and Rebellion project (Cardiff University).

Some of Lauren's impact and engagement work includes:

Collaborations

• Collaboration with Actively Learn –  a free online education platform –  to provide an easy-access version of her research on St Patrick’s Day and nationalism in Edwardian Ireland that can be used by secondary school and college pupils
• Collaboration with Futurum –  a free online magazine aimed at introducing 14-19-year-olds to the world of work in STEM and SHAPE – to translate her research into free educational resources that can be used in the classroom or at home
• Collaboration with Heavy Metal Therapy to produce a blog post about her own personal mental health experiences and music, and also helped develop resources about the link between battle jackets and mental health

Exhibitions and Events

• Creation of 10 digital Museum in a Box collections based on her research to facilitate long-distance learning on social history and visual studies
• Development and curation of a digital exhibition 'Views from the Blue'  which uses drone photography as a means of encouraging viewers to reflect on how drones have created new ways of visualising our world
• Development and curation of a digital exhibition ‘Prize Books and Politics: Rethinking Working-Class Life in Edwardian Britain’, which used images of book inscriptions to tell the stories of working-class individuals.
• Stall at Family History Show offering expert advice to the general public about how to use book inscriptions to research their family history. 

Interviews/Keynotes/Podcasts

• Development of a 20-minute podcast about her research for the DarntonWatch podcast series
• Invited keynote speaker at Lancaster University Literacy Research Centre (2021) and University of Leicester History and Politics Postgraduate Conference (2020)
• Radio interview with BBC Berkshire (2020) regarding her research on the pineapple as a status symbol

Publications

• 49 peer-reviewed publications (1 monograph, 1 edited volume, 5 book chapters and 42 journal articles) 
• 12 general interest articles on her research for The Conversation, Discover Your Ancestors and Wales Arts Review, amongst others
• 42 blog posts on her research for Cardiff University Special Collections, Edwardian Culture Network and British Association for Victorian Studies, amongst others
• 2 Open Learn resources

Click here for an up-to-date list of all her publications.

Lauren is an active member of the FoodKom research group based at Örebro University in Sweden and frequently collaborates with researchers in the Department of Media and Communication Studies. She has written two papers with Prof. Göran Eriksson on the marketing of radium-based products (Science Communication) and cod liver oil (Food and Foodways) in early twentieth-century Sweden. They are currently working on a third paper together about the marketing of Läkerol, as well as an edited volume to be published with Routledge in summer 2024. Through her work with FoodKom, Lauren has also collaborated with Dr Lame Maatla Kenalemang-Palm on a project exploring NIVEA sunscreen advertisements and Prof. Leif Runefelt on a project exploring cannabis-infused food products.

Away from FoodKom, Lauren has also collaborated with Dr Elisa Serafinelli (University of Sheffield) on papers related to their Drones in Visual Culture project and Dr Tereza Spilioti (Cardiff University) on a paper relating to her Reading, Writing and... Rebellion project.

Lauren is also a frequent writer for Heavy Metal Therapy - a CIC set up to bring together people who find rock/metal helpful for mental wellbeing.

Through her work with Rewriting Rory, Lauren has also contributed to the Cowper and Newton Museum's #AG250 project and the Cobh Readers and Writers Festival.

As an Affiliated Researcher of Örebro University, Lauren has ongoing research links with academics in the University's Department of Media and Communication Studies and is engaged in various collaborative research projects in the area of food communication.