Thesis title: New perspectives on the urban cultural heritage of large cities

Co-supervision: UCM & UNIBO

Biography: I am architect by the Polytechnic University of Madrid (BArch + MArch at UPM) and specialised in a Master in Cultural Heritage Management by the Complutense University of Madrid (MPhil at UCM). I am currently doing my first year of PhD research at the UCM in the department of Geography, focused on sustainability and urban regeneration through the Cultural Heritage of big cities. Since 2018, I have been working at the Santa María La Real Foundation (FSMLR) on international Horizon-2020 research projects and different Interreg areas, on the topics of Cultural Tourism, Cultural Heritage, territories development and management of smart destinations and areas through new technologies, such as IMPACTOUR or TExTOUR.

I combine both tasks with the participation in international committees and networks of scientific dissemination and promotion of Cultural Heritage, such as ICOMOS or ESACH, where I currently have the role of Young Ambassador for Spain in collaboration with Europa Nostra and European Heritage Tribune in actions such as the Europe Day or the New European Bauhaus (NEB).

My passion for architecture, tourism and heritage has led me to study in other countries, such as France, the United Kingdom and Brazil, learning first-hand about new cultures and different languages.

Thesis title: The intentional destruction of cultural heritage in international law

Co-supervision: UNIBO & UoE

Biography: I am a second year PhD student in Cultural and Environmental Heritage at the University of Bologna. I am interested in the protection of cultural heritage under international law, with a particular focus on the destruction of cultural property as an international crime. My research topic aims to prove that this phenomenon is not only a war crime, as already stated by international norms, but also a crime against humanity. I graduated in Law in 2009 with a final dissertation on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and obtained a 1st Level Master degree in human rights, migration and development in 2012. Since 2014, I have been a teaching assistant for the chair of international law at the University of Bologna. Parallel to my academic career, I’ve worked until 2021 for a non-profit association dedicated to the prevention of genderbased violence. My work in the association involved interviews with men who have committed domestic violence. I also participated to various projects in high schools, focused on the promotion of gender equality among students.

Thesis title: Exploring digitalisation in the museums’ field: relationality, materiality and the microfoundations of field level changes through the lenses of the iron cage 2.0

Co-supervision: UNIBO & UoE

Biography: I am a second-year PhD student in Management at the Alma Mater University of Bologna. I hold a B.Sc. in Economics and Management for Art, Culture and Communication from Bocconi University and an M.A. in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art. I worked for four years within the art world in museums, as a museum educator, and in auction houses, as a marketing and communications coordinator. My main research interests lie within strategic management and institutional theory, focusing on the micro-foundations of institutions and the relationality of materiality explored in the context of the digital transformation of the museums’ field.

Thesis title: Communication and dissemination of cultural heritage among university students. The case of the Complutense University museums and collections

Co-supervision: UCM & UoE

Biography: I am a first year PhD student in Audiovisual Communication at Complutense University of Madrid. I hold a B.A in Archaeology and MPhil in Cultural Heritage Management both from the Complutense University of Madrid. In my thesis, I research new ways of engaging young people with cultural heritage through new technologies.

I have worked as an archaeologist for Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) from 2017 to 2018 and as an intern for Europeana Foundation working with the Europeana Education community on tasks of project coordination, community management and content development from September 2020 to May 2021.

I am an active member of ESACH, the Europeana Network Association and a Youth Member of Europa Nostra participating in conferences and activities. Also, I was part of the organizing committee of the 3rd ESACH Meeting “Our Common past, our future” on June 2021 in Madrid and I am co-editor of the proceedings from the conference which will be published at UPM Press in early February 2022.

Thesis title: Museology of the Sacred: Friars Minor Conventual’s consecrated churches in Italy (19th-20th centuries)

Co-supervision: UNIBO & P1

Biography: I am a first-year PhD student in in Visual, Performing and Media Arts at University of Bologna. After a B.A. in Architecture from Iuav University in Venice, I received a master’s degree in Visual Arts and a specialisation degree in Historical and Artistic Heritage, both from University of Bologna. As an art historian, I collaborated for two years with the Institute for Artistic, Cultural and Natural Heritage in Bologna and the Service for Cultural Heritage of the Emilia-Romagna Region. My PhD thesis focuses on the relationship between museum and sacred space, investigated through the museological analysis of the consecrated churches managed by Conventual Franciscan Friars. It examines how sacred spaces influence the audience’s perception of the artworks on an emotional level and it analyses the relation between churches and their territorial/urban context, as well as the bond between Franciscan communities and their artistic/historical cultural heritage in terms of belonging, identity, affection during the past two centuries.

Thesis title: Heritage and tourism in China: between protection and commodification. The case of the old concessions of Wuhan

Co-supervision: P1 & UCM

Biography: I am in my first year of a PhD program in Geography and Planning at University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. I hold double Bachelor’s Degrees in Art and Design, Architecture, and a Master’s Degree in Architecture from the National School of Architecture of Paris-Belleville. As a French registered architect, I worked in architecture agency for more than two years. I’ve participated in several projects related to heritage conservation and reuse during my work, these experiences made me think about the relationship between heritage conservation and development. In my PhD project, my main research focus is on the heritagization, tourismification and physical-social transformation of historical areas, with a specific interest in historical towns and Western-themed space in former concessions in China.

Thesis title: Becoming Greek: Jewish Experience of Education and Becoming Greek Citizens in Salonica, Between 1912 – 1943

Co-supervision: P1 & UH

Biography: I am a first-year Ph.D. student in the History Department at Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne. I am interested in the 19th and 20th century European (particularly Balkan) History, in matters pertaining to language, education, and identity.

My Ph.D. thesis studies the Jewish community of Salonica and its diaspora between 1912 and 1943, from Salonica’s takeover by Greece from the Ottomans, until the Nazi Occupation.

I hold a B.A. and an M.A. (M2) from Boğaiziçi University Department of History in Istanbul. My M.A. thesis studied and discussed the criminalization of performing arts in late-Ottoman Istanbul.

Besides historical research, I enjoy composing and listening to music, traveling and running.

Thesis title: Heritage tourism and sustainable development: The significance of indigenous community participation within Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya

Co-supervision: P1 & KUL

Biography: My research interest is in the area of heritage tourism and indigenous community participation.

I contribute numerous years of university, industry and community Heritage Tourism leadership in academia, teaching, writing and research, lectureship, supervision, capacity building, mentorship and administrative experience working in collaboration with the regional and international youth, women and minority communities within East Africa and across the globe.

My PhD research will address the issues of community exclusion, strategies of inclusivity, conservation, preservation and protection of heritage monuments, indigenization of heritage resources, digitization of heritage tourism products, socioeconomic and environmental impacts, stakeholder participation, capacity building and training at the same time fill-in heritage tourism and sustainable development gaps while involving indigenous community participation within Lake Victoria Basin sites of Kenya. The expected result of this research is to put a strong case for heritage tourism and sustainable development within Lake Victoria Basin while involving indigenous community participation. This will adopt the UN Sustainable Development Goals No.1 Poverty; No.2 Zero Hunger; No.3 Good Health and Well-being; No.4 Education for all; No.5 Gender Equality and Empowerment; No.15 Action to combat Climate Change; and No.17 Revitalization of Global Partnerships (UN, 2015).

Thesis title: Instrumentalising the Past and Present: Tools for Defending Workers’ Interests in mid-State Socialist Poland and late-Francoist Spain

Co-supervision: JAG & UCM

Biography: I am conducting research in fulfilment of the Una-Her-Doc Programme in partnership with Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie and Universidad Complutense de Madrid. My research takes the form of a cross-national comparative study of the practices, representations and expressions utilised by workers to defend their interests in the Polish People’s Republic and the Spanish State. It explores how workers interacted strategically with the past, by instrumentalising socialist, religious and regional heritage for contemporary purposes, and with the present, by practicing entryism into state-sanctioned organisational structures, co-opting state language, and forming alternative or clandestine representative organisations. I hold a BA in History from UCL and an International MA in Economy, State and Society from UCL and Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie.

Thesis title: Cultural heritage and human rights: analysis and proposals for a gender and childhood approach

Co-supervision: UCM & P1

Biography: I am a cultural heritage and marketing professional with almost ten years of experience in the profit and non-profit sector. I work as marketing specialist at Save the Children foundation in Spain since 2020, and I am a member at ICOMOS Spain and Europeana Network Association. I studied cultural and envirnonmental heritage and management at University Federico II of Naples and spent an academic year as Erasmus student fellow at Paris Sorbonne IV. In 2016, I completed a Ph.D in Management at University Federico II of Naples, focusing the research on cultural tourism industries and technology applied for the enhancement and communication of cultural heritage, visitor experience and sustainability. Now I am enrolled in my first year as Ph.D student in History and Archeology at the University Complutense of Madrid. The topic I am starting to research is about human right and cultural heritage, with an especial focus on children and gender.