Lauriane Simony is an associate professor at the Languages and International Department of CY Cergy Paris Université in France and is part of the AGORA research team. Her doctoral research focused on the British Council in post-independence Burma, and issues of cultural diplomacy both in the context of the decolonisation of the British Empire and of the Cold War. During her Ph.D., she was awarded a research grant by the English Studies Society in France to conduct research at the National Archives in Myanmar in 2019. Since completing her Ph.D. in 2020, she has continued focusing on the United Kingdom’s soft power, cultural strategies and propaganda in the second half of the 20th century. As a musician and member of a symphonic orchestra herself, she is now investigating the role of British orchestras and the importance of classical music diplomacy in the global Cold War.
