Melissa Butcher

Melissa is Professor Emeritus in Social and Cultural Geography, at Birkbeck, University of London, and an honorary Research Associate at Royal Holloway. Her most recent research examines political polarization in the United States, and is published as 'The Trouble with Freedom: Love, Hate and America's Future' (Manchester University Press).

Melissa has over two decades’ experience leading education programmes and international research projects in the UK, Europe, and Asia, focusing on how we manage cultural change, social conflict, diversity, and inequality. She has held academic posts at Birkbeck, University of London, the Open University, and Trinity College, Dublin, in addition to previous experience in the media, youth work, development education, intercultural consultancy and training.

She enjoys collaborating with a range of stakeholders, including youth organisations, artists, NGOs, and the corporate sector, to create education and training programmes that support social cohesion, conflict transformation, and understanding processes of change.