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Staff profile

Overview

Liam O'Kell

Research interests

  • Heritage management can contribute to sustainable development by stimulating local economies, enhancing public education, improving mental and physical health and supporting social activities, while reducing inequalities. I am currently enrolled on the PhD in Archaeology programme, working on a thesis evaluating the economic and social impacts of the Northern Saints Trails. My research focuses specifically on the Way of Light from Heavenfield to Durham. Within the contexts of historical and contemporary pilgrimage, I am examining the route’s role in tourism development, focusing particularly on funding, intention, international profile and local outcomes.
  • As such, this project has an emphasis on County Durham and Northumberland and, as the ultimate destination of the routes, Durham Cathedral. Considering these contexts, the thesis pursues three core objectives. First, it aims to investigate the economic and social factors most consequential to the establishment and sustainable management of the trails. It will then evaluate the impacts of these routes with reference to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and international case studies. Third, the thesis examines the ethics of trail management to establish core principles for designing practical heritage trail frameworks.
  • My other research interests include access, learning and outreach at archives, art galleries, libraries and museums; East Asian and North East African archaeology, architecture and art; modern Chinese history; and bias in the communication of history. I hold a BA in History of Art from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, which included Arabic and Chinese language courses, and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, for which I conducted fieldwork at museums and heritage sites in China. Alongside my academic work, I have held roles at libraries and museums in North East England and an arts centre in Sudan, and I have taught English as a Foreign Language and cultural studies in China, South Korea and Sudan.