About
Cecilia Rodehn serves as Senior Lecturer at Uppsala University, holding dual appointments at the Center for Gender Studies (Faculty of Social Sciences) and the Department of Game Design (Campus Gotland). She earned her PhD in Museum Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) in 2009 and was awarded an associate professorship in Cultural Conservation at Uppsala University in 2020.
Her educational background includes a Master's degree in Archaeology from Uppsala University (2005) and extensive research experience in South African museum transformation. Her academic journey reflects a trajectory from archaeology through museum studies to critical heritage studies with a distinctive gender and disability studies perspective.
Rodehn's research centers on critical heritage studies with particular emphasis on psychiatric hospital heritage through a Mad Studies lens. Her work examines how cultural heritage processes intersect with ableism, mentalism, and urban development, particularly focusing on how people with mental health conditions are remembered in post-asylum landscapes. She investigates street names, place names, cemeteries, and public art as sites where mental health heritage is constructed and contested. Her approach challenges traditional heritage frameworks by centering Mad perspectives and experiences.
Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear research trajectory focused on the heritage of psychiatric institutions, with increasing theoretical sophistication through the application of Mad Studies. Her work demonstrates how heritage-making processes actively construct narratives about mental health, often reinforcing ableist norms while simultaneously offering potential for resistance and alternative memorialization. The geographical focus spans Sweden (particularly Ulleråker in Uppsala) while maintaining comparative perspectives with international contexts.
Rodehn leads the Heritage Transformations network funded by Circus and currently directs the FORMAS-funded project 'From psychiatric hospital to condominium – urban development and cultural heritage' (2020-2023). Previous significant projects include 'Ulleråker - disability and cultural heritage' (2016-2019) and 'Cultural heritage as a higher education pedagogical resource' (2014-2016).
Her academic work bridges multiple disciplines including gender studies, museum studies, disability studies, and urban studies. She has developed innovative methodological approaches that combine critical discourse analysis with Mad Studies frameworks to examine how psychiatric heritage is constructed in urban spaces. Her research has important implications for urban planning, mental health advocacy, and heritage practice.
