Dr Michelle Moffat
Dr Michelle Moffat
Research Associate
My profile
Biography
I am a historian of war and society, and joined Manchester Metropolitan University as a research associate in early 2024. My research focuses on everyday experiences of the Second World War, particularly in Scotland, and I enjoy trying to understand the ways war shapes identity and nationhood.
I completed my Doctorate in History at the University of Otago (2021) and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (2006) at the University of Canterbury, both in my home country of New Zealand. In 2023, my first monograph - Scottish Society in the Second World War: Tradition, Tension, Transformation - was published by Edinburgh University Press.
I am Co-Director of the Asia-Pacific branch of the Second World War Research Group, and a member of PHANZA (the Professional Historians’ Association of New Zealand/Aotearoa).
When I haven’t got my nose buried in historic documents, I enjoy sewing my own clothes, eating cake, and walking in the British countryside.
Research outputs
Books
Moffat, M. (2023) Scottish Society during the Second World War: Tradition, Tension, Transformation. Edinburgh University Press.
Journal articles
Moffat, M. (2022) ‘Scotland’s Fighting Fields’: The Mobilisation of Workers in Rural Scotland during the Second World War.’ Rural History 33(2) pp. 231-249.
Loveridge, A., Duell, R., Abbari, J., and Moffat, M. (2014) ‘Night Landscapes: A Challenge to World Heritage Protocols.’ Landscape Review 15(1) pp. 64-75.
Internet publications
Moffat, M. (2021) ‘Blog post: Leisure and Pleasure on the Scottish Home Front, 1939-45.’ Economic & Social History Society of Scotland, published 29 December 2021. http://eshss.org.uk/leisure-and-pleasure-on-the-scottish-home-front-193…
Media
Moffat, M. (2024) ‘New Books in British Studies: Scottish Society in the Second World War’ (New Books Network interview with Miranda Melcher). https://newbooksnetwork.com/scottish-society-in-the-second-world-war.
Moffat, M. (2024) ‘“See what it does for the dimples”: The experiences of women workers in Second World War Scotland’. (Online talk for National Records Scotland). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzZg6GClRo4.
Moffat, M. (2023) ‘New Histories of the Home Front: Global Online Seminar Series’. (Online panel discussion with the Second World War Research Group). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x78AfLgqD-g.
Moffat, M. (2023) ‘The Great Escape: Wartime Holidays’. (BBC Radio Scotland Time Travels podcast). https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001hvw2.Broadcast 23.
Non-peer reviewed articles / reviews
Moffat, M. (2022) ‘Review of Voices of World War II: New Zealanders Share Their Stories, by Renée Hollis’. New Zealand Journal of History, 56(2) pp. 137-138.
Moffat, M. (2023) ‘Nothing Short of an Invasion will Stop Them’: Holidays on the Scottish Home Front during the Second World War.’ History Scotland (May/June).
Abbari, J., Duell, R., and Moffat, M. with Loveridge, A. (2011) Review of World Heritage Committee Operational Guidelines in Relation to Starlight Reserves. University of Canterbury.
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Journal articles
Moffat, M. (2022) ''Scotland's fighting fields': the mobilisation of workers in rural Scotland during the Second World War.' Rural History, 33(2) pp. 231-249.