Professor Karina Croucher

Professor of Archaeology, Heritage and Wellbeing

Expertise: Death and dying; especially in Neolithic Near-East; pedagogy related to archaeological practise; archaeology and culture; equality, diversity and inclusion

A significant part of Karina’s work looks at what archaeology and heritage can tell us about the relationship between the living and the dead… the present and the past, and how this nexus can be used to improve resilience, mental health and wellbeing. 

An example of this is the Dying to Talk project which used archaeology to encourage young people to talk about death, dying and bereavement, breaking down taboos and building resilience. 

Karina has published numerous academic papers and several books, including Death and Dying in the Neolithic Near-East, published in 2012 by Oxford University Press. She also co-authored Assembling Archaeology: Teaching, Practice, and Research, with Hannah Cobb, Professor of Archaeology and Pedagogy, which promotes a radical rethinking of the relationship between teaching, research and archaeological practice, that challenges existing hierarchies and breaks down barriers in higher education and beyond. 

Karina is an ardent advocate of equality, diversity and inclusion, a commitment which is borne out in her teaching, research and leadership. She is co-lead of our Culture and Identity Research Group here at the University, Director of Research for ‘Health, Society, People and Place’ in the Faculty of Life Sciences, and is our academic lead for Bradford 2025 City of Culture.

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