Madeleine Leonard is a Professor of Sociology at Queen′s University Belfast. Her main research interest is in teenagers′ experiences of growing up in politically sensitive societies, and she has carried out research into the perceptions and experiences of Catholic and Protestant teenagers living in interface areas in North Belfast. She has recently extended this research interest to Cyprus where she has carried out research on Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot teenagers′ attitudes and experiences of growing up in the divided city of Nicosia. She has recently completed research (2010) on teenagers′ perceptions and experiences of Belfast as a ‘shared city’ as part of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project ‘Conflict in Cities and the Contested State’. She has used a range of research methodologies including writing exercises, maps, photo-elicitation, focus-group interviews and walk-along interviews.
