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Dr Alessandra Campoli

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Lecturer in Design
  • Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
  • School of Engineering & Innovation
  • alessandra.campoli

Professional biography

I joined the Open University as a Lecturer in Design in 2021.

Previously, I was a lecturer in Art and Design at the University of the Highlands and Islands. I also worked as an Academic Development Lead for the Interactive Design Institute (Edinburgh) and a Researcher for the EV-K2-CNR Committee (Italy/Nepal).

Along with my scholarly activity, I am a creative practitioner working with photography and mixed media.

 

Research interests

Visual Cultures, Social and Climate Justice, Sustainability and Creative Practices, Regenerative Cultures, Humanitarian Design, Creative Research Methods, Photography, FabLabs, Nepal.

Current Research Projects

2024 ongoing ‘STEAM Education Nepal’: Strengthening Young Nepali Girls Through Access to STEAM Educational Programmes. A two-year Open Societal Challenge pilot project in collaboration with FabLab Nepal and Impact Hub Kathmandu. The project aims to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, Mathematics) education for Nepalese students from low-income families enrolled in Community and Government (CG) schools in the Kathmandu Valley, with a focus on girls and through the production of a portable ‘STEAM Education Kit’ and STEAM teacher training for CG school teachers. 

Past Research Projects

2022-2023 FabLab Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities of the First Emergency-Driven FabLab in the Global South. The project was born as a seed project aimed at identifying the challenges and opportunities of a recently created FabLab in one of the most underdeveloped countries in the Global South. 

2020-2023 Persephone has crossed the border: Myth, Migration and the Sense of Belonging.  A creative project focused on investigating how ancient myths, collective memory and creative practices can give us an alternative lexicon to discuss border crossing, migration, societal challenges and the idea of ‘home’. 
 
2019-2021 Breathe. A Creative Investigation into Carbon Sinks in the Age of Climate Changes.  The project, developed in collaboration with the UHI Environmental Research Institute (Thurso), explores the importance of the peatland in the North of Scotland as a carbon sink. It combines creative and visual research with multidisciplinary scholarly enquiry. 

2012-2014 Edges. A creative project investigating liminal spaces and the impact of traditional lore and legends on the perception of contemporary urban spaces. Partnerships include Creative Scotland, COFA (College of Fine Arts) Sydney, and Silpakorn University Bangkok.

2008-2012 Haunted Tropicality: Gothic Motifs and Melancholic Imagery Toward an Aesthetics of Darkness. The project was funded by the University of the West of Scotland and partnered with Silpakorn University (Bangkok).

2005-2008 Creative Practices and New Aesthetics in South Asia. This project investigated the social impact of creative projects in South Asia, focusing on the Himalayan Regions. It was funded by the Ev-K2 Committee (Bergamo, Italy), the Italian National Council of Scientific Research (CNR), and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

 

 

 

Publications

‘It is not rocket science but it can change our lives’: pluriversal design with FabLab Nepal at a spinal injury clinic (2024)
Campoli, A.; Luck, R.; Shrestha, P.; Pradhan, P. and Rana, P.
CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, 20(1) (pp. 20-35)

Art, Myth and Memory: An Investigation into the Relationship Between Ancient Myths, Collective and Cultural Memory and the Visual Arts (2020-12-23)
Campoli, Alessandra
Visual Review: International Visual Culture Review, 7(2) (pp. 199-206)

A Ghostly Feminine Melancholy: Representing Decay And Experiencing Loss In Thai Horror Films (2015-02)
Campoli, Alessandra
Plaridel, 12(2) (pp. 14-35)

Edges: Written and Visual Reflections on Marginal Space and its Exploration (2013)
Campoli, Alessandra
Interartive. A Platform for Contemporary Art and Thought, 55

Mae Nak: Donne Vampiro e Spiriti Irati dal Lontano Oriente (2011)
Campoli, Alessandra
ISBN : 9788895688428 | Publisher : Exorma | Published : Rome

Ritual Art of the Kingdom of Mithila: Traditional Paintings by Janakpur Women in Nepal (2008)
Campoli, Alessandra
ISBN : 9789937506090 | Publisher : Vajra Publications

La Montagna Divina: Iconografia e Mito (2006)
Campoli, Alessandra
ISBN : 9789994672097 | Publisher : Vajra Publications

Chintamani: Il Gioiello degli Dei (2007)
Campoli, Alessandra
In: Macioce, Stefania ed. Ori nell'Arte: Per una storia del potere segreto delle gemme (pp. 144-161)
ISBN : 978-88-87-666-11-3 | Publisher : Logart Press | Published : Roma

Le Stregonerie di Salvator Rosa (2004)
Campoli, Alessandra
In: Macioce, Stefania ed. L'Incantesimo di Circe. Temi di magia nella pittura di Dosso Dossi e Salvator Rosa (pp. 158-185)
ISBN : 978-88-87666-08-3 | Publisher : Logart Press | Published : Roma

Persephone has Crossed the Border: Myth and Contemporary Art Practice (2020)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : GKA 2020 - VI International Congress on Visual Studies (2020, University of Paris, Diderot)

Myth, Collective Memory and Art Practice (2019)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : Conference Proceedings: IV International Conference on Memory Studies (2019, Istanbul, Dakam)

From modern ruins to human decay: Creative practices and 'students' as researchers (2019)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : Ruination and Decay. Humanities and Arts Research Cluster Conference (2019, University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness)

Ritual Art of the Kingdom of Mithila. Rituality, Art Practice and Sustainable Development: A Case Study from Southern Nepal (2019)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : 17th Rural Entrepreneurship Conference (2019, University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness)

Toward the Margins: Dark Memories of a Futuristic Megalopolis (2014)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : Between Places and Spaces:Landscapes of Liminality (2014, Trinity College, Dublin)

Immaginario gotico nella Tailandia contemporanea, tra mito, cinema e pratica artistica [Haunted Femininity: Gothic Imagery in Contemporary Thailand, between Myth, Visual Culture and Creative Practice] (2012)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : Cinema e diversità culturale (2012, University of Rome)

The Dark Side of the Land of Smile: Gothic Myths and Haunted Geography in Thailand (2011)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : “GothicLimit/Gothic Ltd”: Tenth Biennial Conference of the International Gothic Association (2011, University of Heidelberg, Germany)

The Global Gothic: an Intermedial and Transcultural Phenomenon (2011)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : Symposium on Transmediality (2011, Linnaeus University, Vaxjo)

Tropical Melancholy: the Ephemeral in Thai Contemporary Visual Imagination (2010)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : ACSA Asian Cultural Studies Association: The Visual Imagination: Across Boundaries (2010, Assumption University, Bangkok)

When Death Crosses the Borders: Female Ghosts in South East Asian Contemporary Imagery (2010)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : Transgression and its Limits (2010, University of Stirling, Stirling)

The Ephemeral Body: Aesthetics of the Body in the New Media Arts of Continental Southeast Asia (2009)
Campoli, Alessandra
In : ISEA International Symposium for Electronic Arts (2009, Belfast)