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Dr Kasia Tomasiewicz

Positions held:
  • Lecturer, School of Historical Studies
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  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    Kasia is a cultural historian with expertise in museum theory and practice, memory studies, and post-war and contemporary British history. 

    In 2020, she completed a Collaborative Doctoral Award PhD project entitled ‘Memory in the Museum: Representing the Second World War in the Imperial War Museum, London 1960 – 2020’. During her research period, she spent a number of years embedded in the Transforming IWM London 2 team as they planned, curated and delivered the £30.7 m Second World War and Holocaust Galleries (opened in October 2021). She analysed historical and contemporary practices of curation, provided feedback on curatorial decision-making, liaised with external stakeholders including academics and designers, attended community outreach events, assessed practices of display in external museums, and presented research at a number of conferences.

    Highlights

    • Kasia is the co-host and producer of the Cursed Objects podcast on material culture, politics and history. Guests who have appeared on the show include iconic sociologist Les Back, museum activist Alice Procter, author and host of Bad Gays podcast Huw Lemmey, food and cultural critics Jonathan Nunn and Biz K, and historian Charlotte Riley 

    • Kasia recently appeared on BBC Radio London to discuss objects that encapsulate London's history for Birkbeck's bicentenary. 

    • Kasia produced and hosted episodes of The Bunker podcast, including interviews with Second World War historian Luke Turner, A.I specialist Kate Devlin, and contemporary historian Lucy Robinson. She also features as an expert guest on roundtable discussions on museums. 

    • Kasia wrote a very personal article about Polish disapora memory in grocery shops for the Wellcome Collection's online series about food and health titled 'Love, longing and tea from the polski sklep'

    • Kasia wrote and performed a TED-style talk entitled ‘A Pleasure Culture of War’ about war culture and museums for BBC Radio 4 Four Thought in September 2019.

    • Kasia was interviewed as an expert on war memory for the ‘Jam Tomorrow’ podcast.

    • Kasia wrote a review of the 2021 Second World War galleries at the Imperial War Museum for the New Humanist in the Spring of 2022 entitled 'Reimagining the Second World War'.

    • Along with her podcast co-host, Dan Hancox, Kasia wrote about the normalisation of everyday cultures of violence in 'Riot police body scanners and social breakdown in toy town', Coda Story Magazine, Summer 2021.

  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • Cultural memory
    • Museum studies
    • Second World War history
    • Material culture
  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Teaching

    Kasia teaches on the MA in Museum Cultures including the core course 'Approaches, Issues, Skills', the 'Work Placement', and the 'Museums, Memory and National Identity' option module. She additionally co-organises the Level 4 Art in London undergraduate module. 

    Teaching modules

    • MA Dissertation (AHVM019D7)
    • Museums, Memory and National Identity (ARVC004S7)
    • Museum and Heritage Work Placement (ARVC054S7)
    • Museum Cultures - Approaches, Issues, Skills (ARVC059S7)
    • Art in London (ARVC295S4)
    • Public History and Heritage: Theories, Issues and Practice (SC03003S7)
    • Research Skills for Historians (SSHC386Z7)
  • Business and community

    Business and community

    I have media training.

    Media

    I am happy to receive enquiries from the media on the following topics:

    • Memory studies
    • Second World War history
    • Museums
    • Imperial War Museums
    • Material culture