[1] In 2006, she held a position as professor of social anthropology at the University of Manchester.
She was appointed as anniversary professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of York in 2015.
Beside her professorial appointments, she is participating in the collaborative formation of the Humboldt Forum.
The red thread in Macdonald's research is how different societies choose artefacts and, more generally, the relevant topics for exhibition in museums, given the fact that most museums display only 5% of their inventory to the public.
[6] In Germany, she did this in relation to National Socialism in Nuremberg promoted by a Humboldt scholarship from 2000 until 2006.