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Culture and Society

QUB-GAP-Banner-Mournes-Sleive-Meelbeg-in-the-Snow-(2014)
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
The role of space and place

Culture and Society Research Cluster

The "Culture and Society" research cluster in SNBE combines expertise across four academic disciplines—Architecture, Human Geography, Planning and Archaeology—which share a common concern for exploring past and present connections between cultures and societies at varying spatial scales, from the local to global, and developing collaborative and impactful research programmes addressing major research challenges in the humanities and social sciences.

Among the topics and themes researched through the cluster are: Cities & Mobilities, Digital Worlds, Heritage Places, People & Landscapes, Science & Society, Urban Cultures, and Spaces & Politics. With an emphasis on cross-disciplinary and collaborative research with external partners, the approaches taken by the cluster’s researchers span a range of humanities and social science methods, including practice-based research, participatory techniques, qualitative methodologies and quantitative analysis.

The “Culture and Society” research cluster offers a vibrant and stimulating forum for researchers internationally to build bold and new programmes and projects that connect with our shared interests in researching cultures and societies, past, present and future. To collaborate with our leading SNBE researchers on major issues shaping our human worlds today, please get in touch with Prof Keith Lilley for more information (k.lilley@qub.ac.uk).

StaffKey InterestsEmail Address
Dr M. Amir   m.amir@qub.ac.uk  
Dr P. Boland Philip Boland has a varied set of research interests. These are centred on the following areas of planning theory and practice: neoliberal urbanism; local and regional development; city branding; illegal drugs; economics of religion; cultural events.  p.boland@qub.ac.uk  
Dr D. Brandherm Much of my current research is concerned with exploring the dynamics of societal change in later prehistory, particularly in the Chalcolithic and in the Bronze and Iron Ages of Western Europe and the Mediterranean.  Through the use of scientific dating techniques I also work on refining the chronologies that inform our understanding of the processes underpinning these dynamics.  Another focus of my work is artefact studies, including the scientific analysis of archaeomaterials. d.brandherm@qub.ac.uk  
Dr G. Catney I am a Population and Social Geographer, with particular interests in ethnic inequalities, ethnic diversity, residential segregation and internal migration. I am also fascinated by how neighbourhoods both shape, and are shaped by, the experiences of those who live in them. I am mostly, although not exclusively, a quantitative social scientist, but thinking critically about numbers is central to my research approach. g.catney@qub.ac.uk  
Dr O. Dunnett As a cultural, historical and political geographer, my research interests focus on the ways in which cultures of outer space, science and technology are connected to questions of place, landscape and identity in a variety of local, regional and national contexts. I have concurrent research interests in areas including literary geographies, popular geopolitics and the history of geography. o.dunnett@qub.ac.uk  
Dr D. Finnegan  

My research interests include the cultural history and geography of the life and earth sciences, with a particular emphasis on religious responses to scientific developments in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

d.finnegan@qub.ac.uk  
Dr N. Flood My overall academic aim, which I seek to achieve through a number of research, education and citizenship activities, is to tackle the ecological crisis through the codesign of place-based, spatial, context specific and environmentally beneficial solutions. My research interests include codesign methods, ecotopian design fictions, urban interventionist practices and climate change adaptation of the built environment. n.flood@qub.ac.uk  
Dr P. Gleeson I am a landscape archaeologist interested in the later prehistoric and medieval periods of Europe. My research specialises in the first millennium AD, and currently focuses on themes of kingship, religious transformation, cult and governance in Northern Europe. p.gleeson@qub.ac.uk  
Prof A. Horning Key research interests include comparative colonialism in the Atlantic World, the integration of archaeology and conflict transformation, historical archaeology, archaeological theory and ethics, and community engagement.  a.horning@qub.ac.uk  
Prof N. Johnson My research falls into three strands. Firstly, I continue to develop the conceptual and empirical dimensions of the performance of social memory with respect to public monuments, museums and heritage venues. The second theme of my research focuses on the role of place in the articulation of nationalist identities and has been rooted in analyses of education policy and language, literary geographies and identity, and the role of the heritage industry in representing a nation’s past. The third strand of my research congregates around the historical geographies of science, in particular the development and design of botanical gardens as sites in which the relationship between science and beauty in the formation of natural history knowledge is practised. n.johnson@qub.ac.uk  
Dr G. Kacmaz Erk Gul's research interests include:

Cinema and the City

Architecture and Film

Architecture and (Forced/Voluntary) Migration

Minorities and the City

Urban space/Architectural space/Film space/Sci-fi space

Refugees and Home

Digital Mapping in the Humanities

Architectural Media and Representation

Architectural Design Education

g.kacmaz@qub.ac.uk  
Dr S. Kumar   s.kumar@qub.ac.uk  
Dr S. Lappin The research of Dr Sarah Lappin (Head of Architecture) concentrates on manifestations of architectural identity in 20th century on the island of Ireland. With Dr Gascia Ouzounian, (Oxford University), she is co-director of the research group Recomposing the City. The group asks how a consideration of sound and sound art methods can impact on the making of cities. s.lappin@qub.ac.uk 
Prof K. Lilley (Research Cluster Director) My research covers the fields of: Historical/cultural geography; Landscape history/archaeology; Histories of cartography/archaeology of cartography; Urban morphology/urban history/urban archaeology; Heritage studies/heritage practice. Current projects include combining GIS and prosopography in analysing historic maps of Britain and Ireland, and tracing global histories of field-surveying and geodetics through landscapes and maps. k.lilley@qub.ac.uk  
Prof D. Livingstone   d.livingstone@qub.ac.uk  
Prof C. Lloyd Geographical Information Science, Population Geography and Historical Geography  c.lloyd@qub.ac.uk 
Prof C. Malone Caroline Malone undertakes research on the early societies of the central Mediterranean. Her work includes excavations on Maltese temples and burial sites, Sicilian settlements and Italian hillforts. Most recently, she has completed a 5-year ERC project exploring environmental change and the impact this has on islands and communities. She also researches on prehistory across Europe and Britain, and in particular, studies museums and heritage sites related to prehistory. c.malone@qub.ac.uk  
Dr A. Martire My research interest within architecture is in the relationship between people and places within the built environment. I specifically research the significance and value of mixed streets and their role in providing essential public spaces. The research is underpinned by ethnographic and urban morphology methods. a.martire@qub.ac.uk  
Dr W. Megarry  Three key areas:
  • Prehistoric landscape archaeology, specifically the archaeology of islands;
  • The application and use of non-invasive technologies in archaeological research and heritage management;
  • The intersection between climate change and cultural heritage; specifically, climate change adaptation, traditional ecological knowledge and vulnerability assessment of cultural heritage sites.
w.megarry@qub.ac.uk  
Prof E. Murphy   Professor Eileen Murphy's research focuses particularly on human skeletal populations from prehistoric Russia and from all periods in Ireland. She is particularly interested in the use of osteoarchaeological and palaeopathological information to help further understanding of the daily lives and experiences of past people. Her research has also explored the social dimensions of funerary practices, particularly in relation to minority and deviant burial rites. She has undertaken a substantial amount of research exploring children and childhood in the past, using various archaeological approaches, and has a strong interest in advancing community-based archaeology.  eileen.murphy@qub.ac.uk  
Dr C Niblock   c.niblock@qub.ac.uk  
Dr U. Sengupta   u.sengupta@qub.ac.uk 
Dr I. Shuttleworth   i.shuttleworth@qub.ac.uk 
Dr C. Silva My research profile lies in the intersections between urban planning and urban design. Between 2005 and 2010 I developed research on urban informality, social housing and local development. However since 2012 my research interests have been centred on the explorations of contemporary patterns of urban growth and change, urban sprawl and (post) suburbanisation, and the role of 'Interstitial Spaces', vacant lands and leftover zones in restructuring city-regions.  c.silva@qub.ac.uk 
Prof A. Stockdale Prof Aileen Stockdale's research expertise is on the changing demography of rural areas. This focuses on rural mobility (in- and out-migration) and immobility (staying) and, in particular, the decision-making processes (including partner negotiations by couples) and economic and social consequences for rural destination and origin areas. Her research also includes strong life course and gender perspectives. a.stockdale@qub.ac.uk 
Dr T. Sturm Tristan Sturm researches apocalyptic geopolitics--both religious and secular--relating to climate change and the Middle East. He is also interested in critical public health, specifically lead exposure. t.sturm@qub.ac.uk 
Dr R. Waldron   r.waldron@qub.ac.uk 
     

Research Fellows 

 
Researcher Key Interests  Email 
Dr C. Donnelly   c.j.donnelly@qub.ac.uk  

Dr P. Ell

 

  paul.ell@qub.ac.uk  

 

In This Section
Research Clusters
  • Research Clusters
  • Sustainable Built Environment
  • Environmental Change and Resilience
  • Culture and Society
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