Dr Rosaria Franco

After completing my undergraduate studies in Russian and English language and literature with a pathway in modern history at the Universita' degli Studi "Ca' Foscari", I moved to the University of Manchester to complete my postgraduate studies in Russian history. In 2006-2007 I joined a AHRC-funded project “Population displacement, state practice and social experience in Russia and Eastern Europe, 1930-1950s”.

Since September 2007, I have been with the School of International Studies of the University of Nottingham in China. As one of the earliest members of the latter, I have a strong record in curriculum development, interdisciplinary teaching, teaching leadership, and the development of Continuous Professional Development for teaching staff.

I am a proven leader in teaching quality, having served as Faculty Director of Teaching (2016-18) and Associate Dean in Teaching and Learning (2018-20), as well as instructor, examiner, and Faculty  Adviser in the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE). 

I am reviewer of applications to fellowships of Advance HE in the Nottingham Recognition Scheme (NRS) and active member of the university Teaching and Learning Observation College (TLOC).  Since 2023, I have been the Academic Director of the Nottingham Advantage Award, the university flagship programme promoting student employability, in the China campus.

My research focuses on the politics of welfare/ humanitarian assistance to address the needs of migrant, displaced, and refugee populations, especially children. I am interested in the relations between refugees, humanitarianism, and empires.

Cross-referencing sources from British, Hong Kong, Russian and US public and private archives, in my published and ongoing research I have explored how politicized humanitarianism affected the care arrangements for displaced and refugee children in Europe and Asia in the 20th century under the conditions of colonialims and the global  Cold War.

Recently, I have also engaged with the theory of refugee regimes, identifying a specific Anglo-Chinese "Hong Kong refugee regime" in colonial Hong Kong during the treaty port era.

I am happy to supervise PhD projects in my areas of expertise, especially refugee history, as well as selected projects on migration, gender, social policy, and childhood from a historical perspective.

Key words

• Refugee History
• History of Humanitarianism
• History of European/ Colonial Childhood and Child Welfare
• Empires and Colonialism
• Cold War History
• Hong Kong History
• Transnational  Higher Education

Across the year I have developed several UG/ PGT modules and contributed to more as lecturer. I currently convene or contribute to:  

• People and Borders
• The Making of Contemporary Europe
• Welfare States (co-convenor)

Previously

• China, Russia, and the United States
• Understanding the West
• Western Civilisation
• The Making of Modern Asia
• The Making of Modern Europe
• Russia: The Making of a Modern Power
• Special Project in World History
• Research Methods
• Research Methods I (Qualitative)
• History: Research Methods
• Approaches to History and Politics
• Gender & Society
• Gender: Power and Society
• Sex, Gender, Politics (seminar leader)
• Women and Children in the Modern World
• Introduction to Comparative Politics (seminar leader)
• Introduction to Analytical Thought