People

Dr Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco

Senior Lecturer
School of Philosophy and Art History
Dr Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco

Profile

Biography

I am a UKRI Future Leader Fellow, Round 6, and Senior Lecturer in Heritage and Digital Humanities. My research combines material culture, heritage, and cognitive science to explore how new technologies impact heritage making processes and the interpretation processes of the past. My UKRI FLF is titled "REbuilding a sense of PLACE (REPLACE): The socio-cultural role of 3D technologies in increasing community resilience after natural disasters". REPLACE is a programme of research that aims to increase community resilience after natural disasters by advancing our understanding of the socio-cultural role 3D technologies can play in rebuilding a sense of place, thus enabling communities to prepare for, respond to, recover from, mitigate the effects, and adapt to natural disasters. My previous fellowships include a Marie Skłodowska Curie fellowship at the University of Cambridge & an Eastern ARC fellowship. These grants, among others, have allowed for the development of two research strands: One line of research studies the role new technologies (3D digital, replicas, 3D prints, and digital soundscapes) play in enhancing processes of meaning making and interaction with past material culture inside museums; specifically how 3D virtual and material replicas, as well as object-based soundscapes, can re-define authenticity and enhance more performative and affective museum displays (Projects: DIGIFACTS and Neurocuration). The other focusses on collaboration with small/medium enterprises & educators to study how novel pedagogies and 3D technologies can be combined to enhance young people's engagement with their heritage in conflict afflicted countries. I co-developed a project in Tunis, supported by the British Council Cultural Protection Fund, and in collaboration with the faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Virtual Experience company, and Rambourg Foundation (Project: Ksar Said: A Virtual Experience); I am now co-developing similar programmes of research in Syria, Lebanon, and Uganda. My research outputs are practice-based as well as journal or book focused and I have recently been awarded a BAFTSS Practice Research Innovation award for my co-directed film "Italia Terremotata", which tells the story of resilient communities in post-earthquake Italy.

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. University of California, Merced,

  • Post-graduate Specialisation in Late Antiquity and Medieval Archaeology Sapienza University of Rome,

  • BA+MSc Sapienza University of Rome,

Appointments

University of Essex

  • Senior Lecturer in Heritage and Digital Humanities, School of Philosophy and Art History and Interdisciplinary Studies Centre, University of Essex (1/10/2022 - present)

  • Lecturer in Heritage and Digital Humanities, School of Philosophy and Art History and Interdisciplinary Studies Centre, University of Essex (1/1/2021 - 30/9/2022)

  • Eastern ARC Fellow in the Digital Humanities, SPAH, University of Essex (1/1/2018 - 31/12/2020)

Other academic

  • Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge University (15/9/2014 - 14/6/2017)

Research and professional activities

Research interests

Disaster Heritage

Open to supervise

Community Resilience

Open to supervise

Heritage and Sense of Place

Open to supervise

Digital Replicas of Heritage

Open to supervise

Virtual Museums

Open to supervise

Digital Heritage

Open to supervise

Immersive environments for Heritage and Museums

Open to supervise

The Heritage of Natural Catastrophes

Open to supervise

Affect, Cognition and Perception in Digital Heritage Studies

Open to supervise

Video Ethnography for Heritage Studies

Open to supervise

Conferences and presentations

The Art Museum in the Digital Age

Conference, 17/1/2022

Online Legacies & Cultural Heritage

Invited presentation, Web3D2021, University of Pisa and online, Pisa, Italy, 10/11/2021

YUFE Post-Doctoral Scheme

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Conference, Bremen, Bremen, Germany, 18/10/2021

Teaching and supervision

Current teaching responsibilities

  • Exhibition (Joint Project) (AR953)

  • Heritage and Human Rights (AR959)

  • Digital Heritage (CS901)

  • Human Rights and the Arts (HU932)

Publications

Journal articles (9)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Galeazzi, F. and Camporesi, C., 3D Virtual Dig: a 3D Application for Teaching Fieldwork in Archaeology. Internet Archaeology. 32 (32)

Galeazzi, F., Di Franco, PDG., Toulson, R., Camporesi, C. and Patel, S., (2023). Earthquakes, communities and heritage: Telling stories of resilience through co-designed immersive media. Visual Studies. 38 (1), 101-118

Al-Taie, I., Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Tymkiw, M., Williams, D. and Daly, I., (2022). Sonic enhancement of virtual exhibits. PLoS One. 17 (8), e0269370-e0269370

Multiple Authors, (2021). Special Issue: "Heritage Education for Sustainable Development". Sustainability. 12 (20)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Winterbottom, M., Galeazzi, F. and Gogan, M., (2019). Ksar Said: Building Tunisian young people's critical engagement with their heritage. Sustainability. 11 (5), 1373-1373

Galeazziup, F. and Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., (2017). Theorising 3D Visualisation Systems in Archaeology: Towards more effective design, evaluations and life cycles. Internet Archaeology. 44 (44)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Matthews, JL. and Matlock, T., (2016). Framing the past: How virtual experience affects bodily description of artefacts. Journal of Cultural Heritage. 17, 179-187

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Camporesi, C., Galeazzi, F. and Kallmann, M., (2015). 3D Printing and Immersive Visualization for Improved Perception of Ancient Artifacts. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. 24 (3), 243-264

Galeazzi, F., Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P. and Matthews, JL., (2015). Comparing 2D pictures with 3D replicas for the digital preservation and analysis of tangible heritage. Museum Management and Curatorship. 30 (5), 462-483

Books (2)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Galeazzi, F. and Vassallo, V., (2018). Authenticity and cultural heritage in the age of 3D digital reproductions. McDonald Institute. 978-1-902937-85-4

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P. and Valesi, M., (2013). From Monadism to Nomadism: A Hybrid Approach to Cultural Productions. eScholarship publishing

Book chapters (10)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., (2022). The Ontology of 3D Digital and Printed Replicas of Artifacts Inside Museums: Authenticity, Play, and the Sense of Touch. In: Critical Archaeology in the Digital Age. Editors: Garstki, K., . COTSEN INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY PRESS. 11- 22. 978-1-950446-30-8

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Galeazzi, F. and Vassallo, V., (2018). Why authenticity still matters today.. In: Authenticity and cultural heritage in the age of 3D digital reproductions. Editors: Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Galeazzi, F. and Vassallo, V., . McDonald Institute. 978-1-902937-85-4

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., (2011). Insediamenti rupestri e territorio. La Valle Nepesina durante il Medioevo.. In: Insediamenti rupestri di età medievale nell'Italia centrale e meridionale L'organizzazione dello spazio nella mappatura dell'abitato. Atti del II Convegno Nazionale di Studi (Vasanello - VT, 24-25 ottobre 2009). Editors: De Minicis, E., . Kappa. 9788865140956

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P. and Galeazzi, F., (2010). 3D Cybermaps of Western Han Mural Tombs. In: Cyber-Archaeology. BAR. 9781407307213

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Forte, M., Dell'Unto, N., Galeazzi, F., Liuzza, C. and Pescarin, S., (2010). The virtual museum of the Western Han Dynasty: 3D documentation and interpretation. In: Space, Time, Place. Third International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology, 17th-21st August 2009, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. Editors: Forte, M., Campana, S. and Liuzza, C., . BAR. 9781407306599

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., (2010). Grasping the Materiality of the Past: Digital Archaeology in Lower-Division Courses. In: Creating Academic Community for First-Generation College Students. A Graduate Students Instructor Guidebook. Editors: Zanzucchi, A., . eScholarship publishing

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Desiderio, V., Dal Miglio, P., Giannini, N., Fiordiponti, T., Orazi, S. and Tozzi, R., (2009). Metodologie di approccio allo studio degli abitati rupestri medievali nel Lazio. In: Uomo e territorio: dinamiche di popolamento e sfruttamento delle risorse nell’antichità.. Editors: Melis, MG., . 492- 500

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P. and Orazi, S., (2008). Insediamenti fortificati e abitati rupestri: il caso di Torre dell’Isola. In: Insediamenti rupestri di età medievale abitazioni e strutture produttive : Italia centrale e meridionale : atti del Convegno di studio, Grottaferrata, 27-29 ottobre 2005. Editors: De Minicis, E., . CISAM. 978-88-7988-126-5

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., (2005). L’abitato rupestre di Torre dell’Isola. In: Il tesoro delle città. Strenna dell'Associazione «Storia della città». Editors: Guidoni, E., . Edizioni Kappa. 88-7890-702-2

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Guerrini, P. and Orazi, S., (2003). Trasformazione dell’insediamento rurale nel territorio dell’Umbria: il caso delle 'villae'. Alcune considerazioni. In: I Longobardi dei ducati di Spoleto e Benevento. 1. Editors: Ermini Pani, L., . CISAM. 1377- 1419. 8879881159. 9788879881159

Reports and Papers (1)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Forte, M. and Issavi, J., ÇATALHÖYÜK 2010 ARCHIVE REPORT. Space 344 and Building 86.

Media (2)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P. and Galeazzi, F., Documentary: Italia Terremotata. Video

Virtual Experience Company, Gogan, M., Winterbottom, M., Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P. and Galeazzi, F., Ksar Said. A Virtual Experience. Image

Other (2)

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., (2018).Review of A. Falcone & A. D’Eredità (eds). ArcheoSocial. L’archeologia riscrive il web: esperienze, strategie e buone , Rende (CS): Dielle Editore, 2018, 195 pp.. EX NOVO Journal of Archaeology. 3

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., (2014).“Handle” with Care: The Practice of Exhibiting Religious Objects inside Museums. Current Anthropology. 55(6),University of Chicago Press

Grants and funding

2022

REbuilding a sense of PLACE (REPLACE): The socio-cultural role of 3D technologies in increasing community resilience after natural disasters

Medical Research Council

2019

Workshop: Building young Lebanese�s engagement with their heritage.

University of Essex (GCRF)

Contact

pd17425@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 872716

Location:

6.146, Colchester Campus