Professor Sian Jones

Professor of Heritage

History University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor Sian Jones

Contact details

About me

I am an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in cultural heritage, as well as on the role of the past in the production of power, identity, and sense of place. I grew up in the Isle of Man and was educated there, later becoming a student at the University of Southampton, where I obtained a BA (Hons) in Archaeology. I stayed at Southampton for my PhD, which focused on archaeology, ethnicity and the modern nation-state under the supervision of the late Professor Peter Ucko. Following copletion of my PhD, I was appointed to a 3-year post-doctoral position at the Parkes Centre for the Study of Jewish - non-Jewish Relations (1994-1996). In 1997, I held a visiting lectureship at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil (funded by the São Paulo State Research Council and the British Council), where I worked with Professor Pedro Funari. On my return I briefly worked for the Council for British Archaeology. I was appointed at the University of Manchester in 1998, where I remained until April 2016. I have presented lectures and papers around the world (including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Latvia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark).

I am an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in archaeology, history and social anthropology, with a particular emphasis on the fields of heritage and museum studies. I draw on theoretical and methodological approaches from across these disciplines, and I work with a range of sources: material, textual, visual and ethnographic.

My research interests include: heritage, identity and the modern nation-state; monuments, memory and place; the cultural biography of objects, monuments and landscapes; heritage management and conservation, authenticity and social value; the material, social and environmental history of urban public parks; and community archaeology/heritage.

A significant strand in my work focuses on place–making, where I combine archaeological, historical and ethnographic research to explore how people sustain relationships with place, through time. This research intersects with my research on cultural heritage, which encompasses cultural significance, social and communal values, authenticity, conservation practice, replicas and reconstructions, and community heritage.

My monographs include: The Archaeology of Ethnicity: Constructing Identities in Past and Present (1997); Early Medieval Sculpture and teh Production of Meaning, Value and Place (2004); A Fragmented Masterpiece: The Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Cross-Slab (2008, with H. James, S. Foster & I. Henderson); My Life as a Replica (2020, with S. Foster); The Object of Conservation: An Ethnography of Heritage Practice (2022, with T. Yarrow).

I have co-supervised doctoral projects on topics such as: the historiography of Armenia and its impact on the Western imagination; Cold War heritage and museology; childhood and the and the materiality of Victorian public parks; the collection, curation and representation of museum objects/collections; heritage conservation and management (especially in respect to social values and authenticity); and several PhDs on community/indigenous archaeology and heritage.

I am interested in co-supervising doctoral students in any of my areas of expertise.

Divisional / Faculty Contribution

Head of Heritage
Acting head of subject supporting Head of Division

Programme Director, BA (Hons) Heritage and Tourism
https://www.stir.ac.uk/courses/ug/heritage-tourism/

External Examiners and Validations

External Reviewer, Periodic Review of Humanities Programmes, University Highlands & Islands

One off appointment (complete)

External Examiner, MA in Heritage Management, University of York

Four year appointment (2012-2016)

External Examiner, MA in Cultural Heritage Studies, UCL

Four year appointment (2016-2021)

External Reviewer for Centre for Critical Heritage Studies, University of Gothenburg

https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/70913
Complete (one off appointment)

External Examiner, MA in Landscape Archaeology and Heritage, NUI Galway
https://www.nuigalway.ie/…archaeology.html
Three year role, appointed in 2022.

Other Academic Activities

Member of the Academic Advisory Group for A Culture Strategy for Scotland

https://www.gov.scot/…rategy-scotland/
Two year role (2017-2018)

Member UKRI/AHRC Peer Review College

Four year appointment (2017-2021)

Director of the Heritage Hub, Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities
https://www.sgsah.ac.uk/e_t/ke-hubs/heritage/

Member of the Peer Review of Estates Panel for Historic Environment Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland
Ongoing since 2018

Studentship Panel for Collaborative Doctoral Awards, Scottish Graduate School in Arts and Humanities
Periodic alternating role

Professional membership

Association for Critical Heritage Studies (Member)

ICOMOS UK (member)

World Archaeological Congress (member)

University Contribution

Academic Lead, Cultural Heritage Research Programme
https://www.stir.ac.uk/research/research-programmes/

Director of the Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy
https://www.stir.ac.uk/…itageand-policy/

Research programmes

Research centres/groups

Research themes