Margaréta Hanna Pintér

• Presentation

I primarily work in the field of critical heritage studies, and spend a lot of time thinking about the diverse, and often unequal ways in which heritage is cared for, especially in terms of change. 

I have a rather mixed academic background holding a BA major Psychology, minors Art History and Diversity & the Contemporary World from Concordia University (Montréal) and an MA in Sustainable Heritage Management from Aarhus University. I see this multidisciplinarity as a strength, as it has allowed me to approach my topics of interest from a unique point of view while constantly challenging my academic comfort zone. At Saxo I am affiliated with both the UCPH School of Archaeology and the Centre for Sustainable Futures, which reflects the ability of heritage to not only contemplate the past, but also to engage speculatively with the future. 

Current research

My doctoral research focuses on exploring the heritage interactions centred around the drystane dyke on the island of North Ronaldsay, the northenmost of the Orkney islands in Scotland. I aim to trace the role of the wall as a heritage object from its construction in 1832 to the present, while also examining how the dyke's cultural presence assembles a regime of caretaking in both the non-human and human community's future way of life in the face of rapid socio-ecological change. In particular, the focus of my research is to examine the complex dynamics of mutual reliance between a cultural landscape that has, for multiple generations, functioned as an integrated system of its material-, intangible-, natural-, and cultural heritages, and those who have learned to live with it. 

This project is conceptually situated in the space where speculative care ethics, posthumanist discourse and critical heritage studies overlap.

Teaching

I will be co-teaching the MA course titled Humanistisk Materialitetsteori/Humanistic Theories in Materiality in Spring 2024. 

Fields of interest

• Critical heritage studies
• Ethics of care
• Interspecies relationships
• More-than-human interactions
• Change, loss and ruination in heritage
• Alternative ways of knowing
• Embodiment, performance and performativity