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Karina Croucher

Karina Croucher

Biography

I have been at the University of Bradford since 2012 and enjoy teaching and researching in such a world-leading department. I am interested in inter-disciplinary approaches to understanding the past, and the role of the past today, as evidenced in my recent Arts and Humanities Research Council Project, ‘Continuing Bonds: exploring the meaning and legacy of death through past and contemporary practice’, which unites Archaeology with End of Life Care (www.bradford.ac.uk/continuingbonds), and the Dying to Talk Project (www.bradford.ac.uk/Dying-to-talk) which co-produced a resource encouraging young people to discuss death and dying.

My research also focuses on Middle Eastern prehistory, particularly funerary archaeology – investigating how people treated their dead in the past. My British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship resulted in the publication of ‘Death and Dying in the Neolithic Near East’ (2012, Oxford University Press).

My current research in Jordan unites the above research strands, focusing on the role that cultural heritage plays in identity, social cohesion, and in providing a sense of place, particularly for displaced and host communities.

I have lectured at Manchester and Liverpool Universities and have worked for the University of Manchester's Widening Participation Team, and for the Higher Education Academy's Subject Centre for History, Classics and Archaeology (based at Liverpool University), where I researched and worked on topics including diversity and inclusivity, fieldwork, employability and enterprise, and sustainability.These prior positions and my current research reflect my interest in methodological issues of interpretation, representation and the portrayal of the past in the present.

Research

Death and Dying: Funerary archaeology and mortuary practices across the world and through time, particularly of the Neolithic of the Middle East/Southwest Asia, investigating themes such as identity, gender and personhood.

Archaeology and its relevance today: Communicating the value of archaeology, and pioneering a new approach to encouraging talk about death and dying today, through the use of the past www.bradford.ac.uk/ContinuingBonds and www.bradford.ac.uk/Dying-to-talk. The role of archaeology in using creative media to discuss difficult topics, the topic of Continuing Bonds: Creative Disseminations (due to start Jan 2019) and work allied with the Whitworth Park Project, Manchester.

Role of archaeology and cultural heritage to displaced communities and host communities, particularly in Jordan and the Middle East, as well as highlighting role of cultural heritage in social cohesion.

Archaeological pedagogy (research in teaching and learning in archaeology). Currently co-authoring Assembling Archaeology: A relational approach to teaching, practice and research, Oxford University Press.

Undercutting these research areas is a motivation to promote equality, diversity and inclusivity in research and teaching.

Research projects

BReaTHe: Building Resilience through Heritage

Role
Co-Investigator

www.bradford.ac.uk/breathe

Dying to Talk: an interdisciplinary project working with charities and community groups in Bradford

Role
Project leader (Principle Investigator)

www.bradford.ac.uk/Dying-to-talk

Continuing Bonds: Exploring the meaning and legacy of death through past and contemporary practice

Role
Principle Investigator
Date
to

AHRC-funded project. www.continuingbonds.live

Professional activities

Education (4)

  • University of Manchester - BA(Hons) in Archaeology (First Class)
  • University of Manchester - British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • University of Manchester - MA in Archaeology (with Distinction)
  • University of Manchester - PhD in Archaeology

Other activities (3)

  • Senior Fellow: Higher Education Academy Senior Fellow
  • Chair: Chair, British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology Steering Group
  • Research: GENOVATE for Life Sciences, University of Bradford

Publications

Book (3)

Book chapter (25)

  • Daily Negotiations with Materiality: Re–Assembling Halaf Ornamentation

    Ellen Belcher and Karina Croucher (2023) STYLE AND SOCIETY IN THE PREHISTORY OF WEST ASIA Essays in Honour of Olivier P. Nieuwenhuyse. In Bleda S. Düring and Peter M.M.G. Akkermans editor(s) Sidestone Press.

  • Assembling Wellbeing in Archaeological Teaching and Learning

    Hannah Cobb and Karina Croucher (2022) Archaeology, Heritage, and Wellbeing Authentic, Powerful, and Therapeutic Engagement with the Past. In Paul Everill and Karen Burnell editor(s) Routledge.

  • Rising, Falling, Assembling: Pedagogy in British Archaeology

    Cobb, H.; Croucher, Karina T. (2019) History and Approaches to Heritage Studies. In Phyllis Mauch Messenger; Susan J. Bender editor(s) University Press of Florida.

  • Dig! Arts Access Project: Reclaiming Park Spaces

    Giles, Melanie and Croucher, Karina (2019) Engaging Communities in Archaeology. Archaeopress.

  • Afterword: The Public Archaeology of Death: Emotion, Equality and Student Experience

    K. Croucher (2019) The Public Archaeology of Death. In Williams, H. and Osborne, J. M. editor(s) Equinox Press.

  • Plastered skulls: evidence of grief and mourning

    K. Croucher (2019) Iconography and Symbolic Meaning. Austrian Academy for Science.

  • Digitised Diseases: Seeing Beyond the Specimen to Understand Disease and Disability in the Past

    Wilson, A.S., Manchester, K., Buckberry, J., Storm, R.A., Croucher, K.T. (2017) New developments in the bioarcheology of care: further case studies and extended theory. Springer.

  • Living with the dead, past and present: A reinterpretation of Southwest Asia’s Neolithic mortuary practices in light of contemporary theories of bereavement

    Croucher, Karina (2017) Engaging with the Dead: Exploring Changing Human Beliefs about Death, Mortality and the Human Body. In Jennie Bradbury; Chris Scarre editor(s) Oxbow.

  • Anatolia

    K. Croucher and E. Belcher (2017) The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines. Oxford University Press.

  • Feminist Pedagogy: implications and practice

    Croucher, Karina T.; Cobb, H.; Casella, E. (2014)

  • Bodily identity: a discussion of mortuary practices and bodily treatment in the Upper Mesopotamian Later Neolithic

    K. Croucher (2013) Interpreting the Late Neolithic of Upper Mesopotamia. In Nieuwenhuyse, O., A. Russell, P. Akkermans and R. Bernbeck editor(s) Brepols Publishers.

  • Decay, temporality & the politics of conservation: An archaeological approach to object studies

    Casella, E. and K. Croucher, (2013) Objects and Materials, A Routledge Companion. In Harvey, P., E. Casella, G. Evans, H. Knox, C. McLean, E. Silva, N. Thoburn and K. Woodward editor(s) Routledge.

  • Heritage and Education

    K. Croucher (2013) Encyclopaedia of Global Archaeology. In G. S. Smith, K. Croucher, T. Lertcharnrit, I. Lilley and I. Russell editor(s) Springer.

  • . Field Schools, transferable skills and enhancing employability

    Cobb, H. and K. Croucher (2011) Global Perspectives on Archaeological Field Schools: Constructions of Knowledge and Experience. In Mytum, H. editor(s) Springer.

  • Prehistoric Anatolia

    K. Croucher (2011) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion. In , Insoll, T. and R. Maclean editor(s) Oxford University Press.

  • The Past in the Present: Issues, perspectives and challenges in teaching & learning archaeology in the UK

    K. Croucher (2010) Heritage Values in Contemporary Society. In Smith, G., P.M. Messenger and H. Soderland editor(s) University Press of Florida.

  • Bodies in pieces in the Neolithic Near East

    K. Croucher (2010) In Body Parts and Wholes: Changing relations and meanings. In Hughes, J., Rebay, K. and Sørensen, M.L.S editor(s) Oxbow.

  • Figuring out Identity: The Body and Identity in the ‘Ubaid

    K. Croucher (2010) The ‘Ubaid and Beyond: Exploring the transmission of culture in the developed prehistoric societies of the Middle East. In Carter, R. and G. Phillips editor(s) Oriental Institute Publications of the Oriental Institute.

  • Ambiguous genders, altered identities: Alternative interpretations of figurine and mortuary evidence from the ‘PPNB’ – ‘Halaf’ periods

    K. Croucher (2008) Gender Through Time in the Ancient Near East. In Bolger, D. editor(s) Alta Mira Press.

  • Prehistory of Iran: Artificial cranial modification

    Daems, A. and K. Croucher (2008) Encyclopaedia Iranica. N/A.

  • Death, Display and Performance: A discussion of the mortuary remains at Çayönü Tepesi, Southeast Turkey

    K. Croucher (2006) Archaeology of Cult and Death. In Georgiadis, M. and C. Gallou editor(s) Archaeolingua Publications.

  • Getting Ahead: Exploring meanings of skulls in the Neolithic Near East

    K. Croucher (2006) Skull Collection, Modification and Decoration. In Bonogofsky, M. editor(s) British Archaeological Reports International Series / Archaeopress.

Edited book (1)

  • ‘Cultural Heritage Management’ Section, Encyclopaedia of Global Archaeology

    Multiple authors (2013) Springer.

Other journal (1)

  • Cranial Modification in Ancient Iran

    Daems, A. and K. Croucher (2007) Iranica Antiqua . 42

Peer reviewed journal (17)