Simon Clarke

Simon Clarke is a Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands, based at Shetland College with affiliations to the Archaeology Institute and Sustainability Studies. His academic work centers on the cultural dynamics of North Atlantic island communities, particularly examining maritime environments through interdisciplinary lenses.

His research spans Island Studies, Cultural Geography, Folklore, Atlantic Studies, Seascape Archaeology, and Dreamscapes. Clarke investigates how sea-focused cultural expressions—such as folklore, symbolic landscapes, and community narratives—shape identity and resilience in island societies. This includes analyzing the interplay between physical seascapes and imagined dreamscapes, emphasizing how maritime heritage influences contemporary sustainability practices.

Clarke's sole documented publication, the 2017 co-authored book The Northern Atlantic Islands and the Sea: Dreamscapes and Seascapes, synthesizes these themes through case studies of Atlantic islands. The work reveals consistent interdisciplinary patterns, integrating archaeological evidence with cultural theory to explore how island communities conceptualize their relationship with the ocean across historical and modern contexts.

He has supervised two research projects, though student names and grant details remain unspecified. His scholarly contributions focus on advancing collaborative frameworks for understanding Atlantic island cultures, with potential future work addressing climate change impacts on maritime heritage.