Our students have been working on projects that explore and celebrate Queen Mary’s heritage.
History student Conor Allen has worked on a series of short heritage films about the four Queen Mary institutions as he believes them to be a great medium by which to learn our history.
Conor enjoyed working with many great actors and behind the scenes people (many of whom go to Queen Mary) and he learnt a lot about the institutions’ vast history.
His short films focused on many interesting aspects of these histories such as 1970s and 80s feminism at Queen Mary, veterans from Queen Mary, Barts’ history and the Great Fire of London. He is very passionate about this project and is excited to share it.
Click here to watch Conor's Films.
Eva Dunne is a BA English graduate and her project, The People’s Archive, is a collaged timeline visualising 200 years of life across the four institutions. The collage illuminates stories of individuals who have shaped Barts and The London Hospital, Westfield College, Queen Mary College and Queen Mary University.
Overall, the project aims to improve community access to archives by sharing practical advice and information, and Eva challenged herself to use only research material from the archives, facing copyright issues and data protection laws which shaped the final selection of images. However, assembling and gluing over 150 interlocking pieces was the biggest challenge.
Eva says the experience has been incredible and memorable as a collage artist, and having learnt about Queen Mary’s extensive history she feels even more connected to the institution. Queen Mary’s heritage is community-focused and revolutionary, as the institutions were pioneers in making education available to all.
Zayna Ahmed is currently studying Design, Innovation and Creative Engineering at Queen Mary. The course has allowed Zayna to explore both scientific and creative areas which she has reflected in her heritage project, creating an interactive painting showcasing a timeline of our institutions.
This project has been a fun and challenging endeavour for Zayna, who has spent months prototyping and testing all sorts of mechanisms and visual effects for her sculpture, challenging herself to learn new techniques in design and crafting. Zayna says she has also learnt a lot by pushing boundaries in building while exploring the rich history of Queen Mary.
Zayna spent a lot of time finding fascinating ways to show the progression of the University throughout the years and enjoyed this project on a personal level. Her dad came to the University before her when it was still Queen Mary Westfield, and her grandfather performed surgeries in the Royal London Hospital years before that. Exploring the institution’s rich history not only provided Zayna with a deeper understanding of the University’s heritage, but also allowed her to learn more about her own family history which she has reflected in a creative way.
Amelia Hussain and Taylor Dodd are both undergraduate students in the second year of their bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Their project is an interactive website to celebrate the history of Queen Mary University of London’s four founding institutions.
The website features virtual tours of all four colleges, information, stories, and a people page. The tours contain images and text that allow users to navigate through each college, enabling them to learn more about Queen Mary’s heritage in an interactive manner.
The goal was to educate others on Queen Mary’s rich legacy and bring about pride in the community. The information page contains all research about the tour displayed in an organised way, while the stories used explain crucial points in these institutions’ history. Any key figure that is mentioned throughout this tour was highlighted in the people page, which describes who this person was and how they impacted the community.
Taylor and Amelia have found their experience working on their project to be a rewarding one. They have been able to play a more active role within the Queen Mary community and develop their interpersonal skills.Explore Taylor and Amelia’s website.
Students Hudhayfa Khan, Marcus Cozarciuc, Sadiyah Islam (History and Politics), Nabil Khan (History) and Riaz Islam (Physics) endeavoured to uncover the Muslim heritage within Queen Mary’s history.
They hoped the project would be a meaningful way of representing a large demographic within the University as well as reminding people that there was a time in living memory when it was not just a small Muslim minority, but rather just individual Muslims.
Throughout the project, the students spoke with various people, hearing how being a Muslim shaped their experiences at Queen Mary, as well as teaching staff who have facilitated the teaching of Islam at the University.
The project has helped develop and refine the students’ research skills, along with improving their network with Muslims students of generations gone by.
Queen Mary has a long history, so taking a minute to stop and contemplate the impact a particular group has had on the University is vital to appreciate its rich heritage.
Click here to listen to their podcast.
Mary Tooley and Hamish Hutchison-Poyntz each completed Queen Mary’s Theatre and Performance MA this autumn and have since been developing the podcast Storied Spaces: Secrets of Queen Mary, an exploration of the tales contained within the campuses of Queen Mary and the institutions that form it.
As recent arrivals to the UK with a passion for exploring the hidden histories of the places they live, Mary and Hamish wanted to learn more about the stories embedded within the campuses where they found themselves spending much of their time, and to share these in an accessible way.
They’ve enjoyed getting to not only discover these stories, but learn about them from a range of fascinating storytellers within the University. Ultimately, they’ve loved expanding their knowledge of the rich diversity of people and communities that have together formed Queen Mary and shaped its heritage.