Alanna Cant
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0118 378 7820
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Associate Professor in Social Anthropology
- Programme Director BA Archaeology & Anthropology
- School Director of Recruitment and Admissions
- Admissions Tutor, Archaeology
Office
Room 12, ArchaeologyAreas of interest
- Material culture in the contemporary world
- Heritage, economics and cultural property
- Human remains as bodies, artefacts and commodities
- Aesthetics, art and artisanship
- Religion, especially Roman Catholicism
- Religious heritage and landscapes
- England and Wales
- Latin America and North America, especially Mexico
- Ethnographic research methods and genres of writing
Postgraduate supervision
Alanna is happy to discuss proposals for postgraduate research that engages with ethnographic methods and the material world, but especially those focusing on artistic and cultural production, heritage and conservation, architecture and landscape, religion, identity and the contemporary uses of the past.
For further information please contact a.m.cant@reading.ac.uk
Teaching
Alanna teaches introductory and advanced courses in social anthropology. Her teaching focuses on theory, ethics and methodology, and the ways that the economics and politics of culture impact contemporary understandings of aesthetics, value, work, identity, religion and the past.
Research projects
Addressing Challenges of Roman Catholic Heritage: Funding, Policy and Capacity-Building in England and Wales today (2022-2023; funded by the British Academy Innovation Fellowship, Route A). This project investigated the impact of changes in UK heritage funding and policy sectors on Catholic heritage programmes.
The Practice of Aesthetics (2007-2012; doctoral research funding provided by the Emslie Horniman Fund of the Royal Anthropological Institute) considered how Mexican artisans respond to changes in the local and international markets for Oaxacan woodcarvings.
The project resulted in six publications, including the 2019 monograph .
Restoration and Faith: Practicing Religion and Conservation in Mexico's Historic Churches (2016-2018; funding by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions). This project investigated the political, aesthetic and ideological dynamics present in religious heritage sites through the lens of a ruined sixteenth century Catholic (Dominican) monastery in Oaxaca, which was being restored by non-religious agencies, while also used by the local Catholic community for worship.
For more information, please visit: .