Dr. Lauren Chalk

Biography

Lauren Chalk is a museum professional researcher and recent PhD graduate whose dissertation examined critical heritage practices, new museology, and cultural justice in diasporic cultural expressions. Her work focuses on advocating for the histories and lived experiences of minoritised communities, particularly in curatorial and operational roles within community museums. She has gained valuable experience in various cultural heritage and arts institutions, including the Queensland Holocaust Museum, the Jewish Museum London, Mall Galleries, and the Science Museum London, as well as at University College London’s Institute of Archaeology. Currently, Lauren serves as a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University. She is leading the Monash Initiative for Rapid Research on Antisemitism (MIRRA), which aims to explore various aspects of antisemitism, cultural heritage, and museum studies, and is deeply involved in processes that deliver content and extract insights to better understand service usage and information access.

Research Interests