معرفی
Professor Bella Dicks is a Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences, where she has been a faculty member for over 30 years. She combines teaching, research, and university administration, and holds a Personal Chair awarded in 2014. She served as Deputy Head of School (2021–2024) and was seconded as Head of Research at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum of Wales (2016–2019). She is an active postgraduate supervisor, having guided 15 PhD students to completion and currently supervising five more.
Her research focuses on cultural sociology, particularly how social groups use the historic past in cultural representation. Key research interests include:
- Qualitative sociology and ethnography
- Heritage studies and collective memory
- Participatory community regeneration
- Decolonisation and social inequalities
- Qualitative multimodal and digital methodologies
- Post-industrial identity and class
Her recent and ongoing work includes an ethnographic study of depopulation in Calabria, Italy, conducted in collaboration with the University of Calabria. Her publications span top journals such as Qualitative Research, International Journal of Heritage Studies, and Sociology, as well as influential books and book chapters on multimodal methods and heritage.
Her 15 most recent articles reveal a strong focus on methodological innovation in ethnography, particularly multimodal and sensory approaches, alongside critical analyses of heritage, class, and community in post-industrial contexts. She frequently publishes on the social dimensions of museums, collective memory, and participatory research.
Her scientific recognition includes:
- Visiting Professor, University of Calabria, Italy (2022, 2025)
- Visiting Professor, University of Saint Etienne-Lyon, France (2010)
She is actively involved in advising and teaching, currently leading a first-year undergraduate module in social sciences and developing new postgraduate teaching in the Global Heritage programme. She has received research funding from the ESRC and has led methodological projects on hypermedia, data reuse, and digital ethnography. She is a member of the British Sociological Association, the Association of Critical Heritage Studies, and the International Urban Symposium.
She is currently engaged in collaborative research with the Department of Political and Social Sciences (DISPES) at the University of Calabria, continuing her long-standing interest in community responses to economic and demographic decline.
