Heritage: tangible and intangible cultural heritage, identity, decolonising heritage, art/design solutions to heritage - cross-over of creative processes and Humanities

Museum studies: representations of the past, pop-up exhibitions, object biographies, alternative (non-)academic narratives, public engagement

Egyptian Archaeology; Egyptology (religion, gender, heritage, literacy, art)

Archaeology, Archaeology and Art

Digital Humanities

My research focusses on narratives of tangible/intangible heritage based on object biographies of un-provenanced museum objects. I supervise research students (MRes, PhD, ProfDoc) in Egyptology, heritage, museum studies and art/design. I act as external examiner for MRes, MPhil and PhD examinations (nationally/internationally) and have been external examiner at Cambridge University (Egyptology) and Chester University (Heritage) and to several programme validations. 

In 2023/24, I was awarded a Visiting Professorship in Egyptology at the Institute for the History of the Ancient World, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China. and in 2025/26 a Visiting Professorship in Egyptology and Heritage, Alexandria University, Egypt, Faculty of Hotels and Tourism. 

I am the lead of the long-term project “The Oriental Collection of Cyfarthfa Castle Museums and Art Gallery” and curator of annual temporary pop-up exhibitions (including the “Museum of Lies”) with outreach/public engagement.

Professional Membership or Roles: AHRC Peer Review College (academic, international, strategic) UKRI Talent Peer Review College (international); Associate Curator for the Egyptian Collection of Cyfarthfa Castle Museums and Art Gallery, Merthyr Tydfil; Academic Lead Museums Portalis Project; Advisory Board ERC Consolidator Grant: Education in Graeco-Roman Egypt. An Intercultural Approach (EduGRE), PL Chiara Meccariello, Exeter University; Egypt Exploration Society (EES); International Council Of Museums (ICOM) - voting membership to CIPEG (International Committee for Egyptology); IAE (International Association of Egyptologists); SMA (Society of Museum Archaeology)

IL20320 -  Museums in the 21st Century  

IL20720 - Research methodology 

IL30120  - Collection Management & Development in Heritage Organisations 

DS33320 – Research methodology

DSM1810 - Research in the Profession 

I am an inter- and transdisciplinary heritage and museum professional / researcher as well as Egyptologist applying approaches from heritage, museum and information studies, visual/material culture, archaeology, art/design and anthropology as well as reception studies. I collaborate with a wide range of artists (fine arts, dance, poetry, performance, AI, game design) interpreting museum objects to audiences in - and outside museum settings to foster belonging/identity, to show how the past is important for the present and future and to connect the Western world with Egypt and China under a postcolonial lens. I love research and teaching; combining both. 

I studied Library Science, followed by Egyptology, Media and Communication Science and Business at Leipzig University, Germany where I also did my PhD in Egyptology. I worked in universities in Germany, UK, China and Egypt as well as in museums and libraries in Germany, UK, US and Egypt.

In 2006 I moved to the UK and taught Egyptology, archaeology and heritage at Cambridge University, Swansea University and UWTSD.