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University of Essex homepage Departments Philosophical Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies Research Space and Place
Research Area

Space and Place

Woman drawing on a map on the wall
This research area brings together academics from art history. Our research investigates different topics surrounding the conceptualisation, production, representation and experience of spaces and places.

Among the most important ways we investigate space and place is through research about the history, theory, and practice of curation, which finds its intellectual home in our Centre for Curatorial Studies. We also address topics that include the ways that borders and migration have informed contemporary architecture and street art in Europe; the extent to which modernist practices and ideas have shaped the approaches to Fascist built environments; and the role of digital technologies in altering the perception in museums and sites of cultural heritage.

Our members

Dr Lisa Blackmore
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Modernity in Latin America; Visual culture; Space and politics; Memory politics; Human-nature relations; Water, hydraulics, liquid ecologies in the arts; Environmental aesthetics; Photography; Digital culture; Contemporary visual production in Latin America; VENEZUELA RESEARCH NETWORK. With Dr. Penélope Plaza (University of Reading), Dr. Rebecca Jarman (University of Leeds).
Dr Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Disaster Heritage; Community Resilience; Heritage and Sense of Place; Digital Replicas of Heritage; Virtual Museums; Digital Heritage; Immersive environments for Heritage and Museums; The Heritage of Natural Catastrophes; Affect, Cognition and Perception in Digital Heritage Studies; Video Ethnography for Heritage Studies
Dr William Carruthers
Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: History of heritage; History of museums; History of archaeology; History of anthropology; Politics and ethics of archaeology and heritage; History of the field sciences; The field sciences, imperialism and colonialism; History, politics, and practice of archives; Dams and dispossession; Middle East history
Professor Diana Bullen Presciutti
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: visual hagiography; charitable institutions (hospitals, confraternities); visual culture of social problems; late medieval and Renaissance Italian visual culture (1300-1600); reception theory; visual culture of the mendicant orders; gender and sexuality; medical humanities

Highlights of our research

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Related courses

Are you looking to study an art history degree at undergraduate, masters or PhD level? Explore some of the exciting courses below, or visit our subject areas to find out more about the degrees and modules that Essex has to offer. If you're not sure which subject is right for you, you can always search for a course. If you're looking for research opportunities, or to find a supervisor, you can use our research finder by searching for your research interests.

 

Explore our subject area
Art produced beyond its historic institutions
The politics of visual culture
Medical Humanities
Also see
Research in the School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Centre for Curatorial Studies
Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Art history courses
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