Research at the Expatriate Archive Centre

We receive many questions from researchers who are doing research into social history, psychology and other topics to explore the social and/or emotional impact of expat life in the period of migration, the cultural or political changes of specific places or countries over the years, genealogy etc.

You can access our online catalogue to search our collection, or visit the Archive in person. Please contact us for more information.

Topics for Research

The sources gathered by us, either written or translated into English, are made available as electronic documents and offer unique possibilities to study expatriate experiences from a wide range of perspectives into themes such as:

• expatriate observations and representations of other cultures
• practices of communication, from letters to blogs
• bilingualism in expatriate life writings
• social life, identity formation and constructions of 'home'
• expatriate dealings with emotions like loneliness and homesickness
• women's roles in making a family life abroad
• expat children (Third Culture Kids, TCKs)

Digital Archive

Our catalogue is available online at adlibweb.xpatarchive.com

We are digitalising our collection of source material concerning expatriate life, to make it accessible online for researchers around the world. We are also working towards becoming a portal for other sources of information on expatriate life, including private collections, related organisations, public archives, and businesses.

If you would like to know more about the source material in the Archive or are interested in using it for your research, please contact us. We are a growing archive and we want to hear from researchers on how to expand our collection to make it more relevant to your research.