Christian Ernsten (C.)
Christian Ernsten is Assistant Professor in Heritage Studies in the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University.
Christian is the program director of the Research Master in Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST). He is also the chair of the Maastricht Experimental Research In and through the Arts Network (MERIAN).
Christian is also part-time vegetable farmer at Hoeve Kesselt and he coordinates the artist-in-residency Atelier aan de Middendijk.
Expertises
- Colonial Heritage
- Heritage and Circularity
- Urban Heritage
- Landscape Heritage
Career history
Before joining Maastricht University, Christian Ernsten worked as lecturer in Cultural Heritage and Museology at the Reinwardt Academy of the Amsterdam University of Arts.
Christian holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town. He received an MA from the University of Groningen (with distinction) and an MPhil (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town. His work has been published in journals such as Archaeologies, International Journal for Heritage Studies, and Urban Forum. He has held visiting research fellowships at the Conservation Department of the University of Gothenburg, the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis at the University of Amsterdam, and the Centre for Uses of the Past at Aarhus University.
In a previous life, Christian directed the Amsterdam-based design and action collective Partizan Publik, as well as the Amsterdam 4 and 5 May committee, the organization that coordinates the WWII commemorative events in the city of Amsterdam. He also worked as an editor at Volume magazine, a quarterly for architecture and visual culture founded by Rem Koolhaas.