Assistant Professor of Geography
Mark Rhodes is the author of an article published in the journal Political Geography. The article is titled “National Museum Wales and the scalar bureaucracies of institutional memory work.”
Rhodes argues for a more deliberate focus on studying the bureaucracy that shapes our cultural heritage institutions, particularly considering how multiple scales of bureaucracy work in tandem. Rhodes’ case study, the seven-museum National Museum Wales system funded and overseen at arm’s length by the Welsh government, offers a unique lens into a national-scale bureaucracy. This bureaucracy must simultaneously negotiate with the larger state (United Kingdom), region (European heritage institutions), globe (UNESCO’s World Heritage program) and local municipalities and communities.
Read the article in Political Geography.
His research interests encompass post-industrial geographies and heritage and national identity in the 21st century. Areas of expertise include memory and memorialization, heritage institutions, cultural landscapes, historical geography, and cultural geography.
Subsequently, Rhodes’s interest benefits students, as he has led many study away programs. This summer Rhodes is leading a study abroad trip to Wales. Students will visit unique expressions of cultural, community, and economic change focusing on industrial communities and heritage institutions. Students will visit the country’s Parliament, national art museum, and four national industrial heritage museums. Additionally, students will tour three national parks and two of the four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales.
About the Social Sciences Department at Michigan Tech
Michigan Tech’s Department of Social Sciences offers bachelor of science degrees in Anthropology, Policy and Community Development, Sustainability Science and Society, and Social Science, along with a bachelor of arts degree in History. Additionally, our graduate program includes masters and doctoral degrees in Environmental and Energy Policy and Industrial Heritage and Archaeology (the only one of its kind in the world), and a master’s in Sustainable Communities. Plus, you can get a graduate certificate in Public Policy in by taking three courses in just one term.
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