Michael Heffernan - Biography #

Heffernan undertook doctoral work at the University of Cambridge. In 1985, he was appointed lecturer at Loughborough University, promoted to Reader. In 1999, he became professor of historical geography at Nottingham, and was head of department 2002-2006. In 1999, he was visiting professor at UCLA, and in 2000 was Humboldt Research Fellow at Heidelberg, later delivering the prestigious Hettner Lectures in 2006. He chaired the Committee of Heads of Geography Departments in UK Higher Education (2007-14) and since 2012 has chaired the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) Peer Review College, as well as the Nottingham College of Reviews for research applications.

His early research was on 19th-century Brittany; later he turned to colonial Algeria, examining policies of the French military, scholarly associations and exploration societies. This gave rise to chapters in his edited books (French and Algerian Identities, 1993; Geography and Imperialism, 1995), and contributions to Geography and Empire (eds. A. Godlewska & N. Smith, 1994) and journals and several edited collections. His work on French geopolitics highlights the activity of geographers form 1910 to 1945; it traced their role in providing ‘scientific’ information to ‘resolve’ the Alsace-Lorraine question. These topics informed his influential book The Meaning of Europe (1998). Later, Heffernan tackled broader themes including memory and war memorialisation, reflected in Cultural Memories (edited with P. Meusberger & M. Wander, 2011). Major essays on geographical thought appear in Geography and the Enlightenment (1999) and Geography and Revolution (2005), edited by D. Livingstone and C. Withers. Heffernan has produced papers in leading geography, history of cartography and history journals, on the role of cartography in British, French and American imperial projects; research travel and disciplinary identity; politics and patronage in the Paris Académie des Sciences; British imperialism and geopolitics; and geography and espionage.

From 1997 to 2005, Heffernan edited the Journal of Historical Geography, significantly developing its profile beyond the Anglophone world. He is a valued member of advisory boards, notably for the History of Cartography book series (University of Chicago Press).

Michael Heffernan has a very high international reputation for innovative archival work and engagement with scholarly projects that bridge academic communities in France, Germany, North America and the UK.