Research Institute for the Humanities

Dr Zoe Groves, who received a PhD in History from Keele in 2011, was runner-up in the UK African Studies Association's Audrey Richards award for the best doctoral thesis in African Studies in 2010 and 2011. Her  thesis examined the social, cultural and political lives of 'Nyasas' (Malawians) situating them within Salisbury (Harare) during the colonial-settler era, and tracing their experiences throughout rapid urbanisation, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the rise of Malawian and Zimbabwean nationalism.

This work highlighted the cultural contribution of Nyasa migrants to the city and provided new insights into the connections between regional nationalist movements. Zoe now holds a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg where she is investigating social histories of migration between South Africa and Zimbabwe, seeking to challenge conventional nation-based approaches to historical research. Zoe also did her undergraduate and masters work at Keele graduating in International History and Philosophy in 2004 and obtaining the MRes in African History in 2005.