My overarching research interest is in sustainable local and regional development, especially the appraisal, planning and management of heritage and other cultural resources, approached from an interdisciplinary perspective rooted in anthropology, cultural ecology and political economy.

    Key Theme 1 – Cultural Dimensions of Economy and Environment

      Applied – endogenous development of communities, localities and regions, esp. utilisation of heritage/culture as resources; relationship between culture and place; socio-cultural implications of globalisation; intangible and environmental elements of heritage

      Theoretical – heterodox conceptualisations of economy from a perspective combining cultural anthropology, cultural ecology and ethics; religious ideas about economy; connections between culture and economy at all levels; history of ideas in relation to culture and political economy

    Key Theme 2 – Cultural Encounters: Contact, Conflict and Communication

      Applied – identity and historicity in border regions and other ethnic frontiers; cultural connections in inland sea regions (esp. Irish Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea); cultural encounters in the context of historical and contemporary migrations primarily within Europe (esp. Germany, British Isles and Baltic region); human-nature encounters; countercultural social movements, past and present

      Theoretical – ‘belonging’ and ‘frontier’ as utopian categories and their societal actualisation in different cultural contexts; art and anthropology; intercultural philosophical anthropology

2012-    Emeritus Professor of Ethnology, Ulster University

2012-2021   Professor of Cultural Ecology and Sustainability, Heriot-Watt University
2012-14 Professor of Irish & European Ethnology, University of Ulster (0.2 fte)
2011-18 Visiting Professor in European Ethnology, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas
2005-12 Professor of Ethnology & Folklife, University of Ulster
2000-08 Professor of European Studies, University of the West of England, Bristol (Visiting 2005-08)
1992-99 Lecturer in Social Science (Irish Studies), University of Liverpool
1989-99 Lecturer (pt) in European Studies, University College Cork
1989-92 Visiting Research Fellow, Applied Population Research Unit, University of Glasgow
1988-92 Research Fellow in Irish Studies, University of Liverpool
1987-88 Lecturer (pt), Department of Political Science & Sociology, University College Galway
1986-88 Lecturer (pt), Department of Economics, University College Galway
1984-85 Lecturer (pt), School of Accounting & Applied Economics, Leeds Polytechnic
1976-80 first career in industrial management (Shell)