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Hi! I am an art historian and digital humanities expert. My research focuses on the history of gardens and landscapes in Early Modern Italy, the visual culture of performance in the same period, and, the application of digital technologies to art history (digital mapping in particular). I also do research and projects connected to digital pedagogies in the humanities and digital transformation in the GLAM sector.
History of landscape, visual culture and performance: My publications include articles and book chapters on the garden history of Italy, history of emotions and set design, the Arcadian Academy and landscape in Rome, and artistic relationships between Britain and Italy in the eighteenth century. My recent book, Landscape in Early Modern Italy: Theatre Garden and Visual Culture (2022), explores how the idea of gardens as theatres emerged at the same time as opera was developed in Italian courts around the turn of the seventeenth century, and, how in this period the aesthetic of designed landscapes and gardens was wholly transformed, which resulted in a reconceptualization of the relationship between humans and nature.
Digital Cartographies of the Roman Campagna, a project based on collections at the British School at Rome brings together historical maps with modern mapping technologies to recreate the lost landscape of the Roman Campagna, and draw together data and research from a variety of disciplines, including art and architectural history, social history, cultural geography and the history of climate and ecological change.
Digital Transformation in the GLAM sector – this work explores the impact of digital technologies on the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museum sector. It includes projects that examine the problems of bias and search engine design in large-scale digitised collections of art and culture, work on early modern digitised texts as data, surveys of staff in museums and galleries about their experiences, and collaboration on digital projects with the sector.
Collaborative Projects and Digital Humanities Pedagogy – This project is driven by the research-led teaching of the Centre for Digital Humanities Research at the ANU and investigates new ways to engage interdisciplinary cohorts of students in the study of Digital Humanities and a critique of the digital world. We develop new pedagogical approaches to guide the development of Digital Humanities as a discipline, with a focus on public engagement and cultural heritage. This work builds on my background in educational research during my time as a Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research (2013-2016).