Cecilia Rodehn

I have a PhD in Museum Studies from The University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), and I am an associate professor in Conservation as well as a Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies.

My current project From psychiatric hospital to condominium - urban development and cultural heritage (2020-2023), funded by FORMAS examines the cultural heritage of psychiatric hospitals from a Mad Studies perspective.

I am the project leader for the network Heritage Transformations funded by Circus

Degrees

2020 Associate professor of Conservation, Uppsala University

2009 PhD in Museum Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

2005 MA in Archaeology, Uppsala University

Previous projects

2016-2019 Ulleråker - disability and cultural heritage. Funded by: The National Heritage Board, project manager

2014-2016 Cultural heritage as a pedagogical tool in higher education. Funded by: Uppsala University's strategiska medel, Project manager with Hedvig Mårdh

2012-2016 Framtidens naturvärden i kulturmiljöer. Funded by: The National Heritage Board, project member

2012-2015 Guest researcher, Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University

2011 Antiquity for Whom?, Funded by; Riksbankens Jubileumsfonds planeringsanslag för forskning om förmodernitet, Project manager

2010-2012 Guest researcher, Department of ALM, Uppsala University

2006-2009 Lost in Transformation. A critical study of two South African Museums. Doctoral studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Current project

From psychiatric hospital to condominium - urban development and cultural heritage (2020-2023 - FORMAS)

This project will explore the ‘doing’ of cultural heritage of psychiatric hospitals and asylums during, and after, urban development with a particular focus on the remembrance of mad people. ‘Doing’ refers to the idea that heritage is a cultural process and a verb that is related to human actions and agency. In this project we address the following questions: (1) How are mad people remembered at former psychiatric hospitals and asylum sites that have been, or are currently, subject to urban development?: (2) What does the cultural heritage of psychiatric hospital entail of and what processes shape this cultural heritage? (3) What is the role of sanism in the ‘doing’ of the cultural heritage of psychiatric hospitals and asylums? The project focus on Ulleråker (Uppsala) with comparison to other places. The project explores public art; street-, place- and city block names; and graveyards. A critical discourse analysis will be appropriated to analyze how mad people are remembered and the role that sanism plays in heritage. The method will assist in identifying the discourses and normative processes in the ‘doing’ of heritage. The material will be further discussed using Mad Studies as a theoretical approach. Mad Studies seeks to question sanist discourses with the purpose to interrupt them. The objective of the project is to provide a theory-driven answer to the research questions and provide tools to work with this kind of heritage.