My academic career began with a lectureship at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, funded as a result of the Irish Government’s commitment to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Subsequently, I was Director of the Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, set up in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement to undertake cross-community research, teaching and outreach activities. In 2012, I was appointed to a Chair in Cultural Heritage and Anthropological Studies at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. I have also held a number of interim positions internationally. In 2010, I held a research fellow at the National University of Ireland in Dublin. I was subsequently appointed to a DAAD guest professorship at the University of Göttingen. I have held honorary professorships at the University of Exeter and the Ulster University. More recently I was a visiting research fellow at Harvard University. I have received many accolades for my publications, including the Ruth Michaelis-Jena Ratcliff research prize for folklife (joint winner).  I was awarded a Senior Distinguished Research Fellowship at the University of Ulster. In 2009 I was elected to the Royal Irish Academy, the highest academic honour in Ireland. I have served on numerous research evaluation panels in Australia, Canada and Europe.