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Professor Bella Dicks
(she/her)
Professor
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am a Professor of Sociology at Cardiff School of Social Sciences and undertake teaching and research alongside university administration. I specialise in qualitative sociology and ethnography, with a research focus on heritage studies, participatory community regeneration, decolonisation and qualitative multimodal methodologies. Over the 30 years I have been working at the University, I have enjoyed teaching across the range of Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels and have successfully supervised numerous doctoral and Masters students.
Publication
2019
- Dicks, B. 2019. Industrial heritage as place-making – the case of Wales. In: Berger, S. ed. Constructing Industrial Pasts: Industrial Heritage Making in Britain, the West and Post-Socialist Countries. Oxford: Berghahn Books
- Dicks, B. 2019. Multimodal analysis. In: Atkinson, P. et al. eds. SAGE Research Methods Foundations. London: Sage, (10.4135/9781526421036831970)
- Berger, S., Dicks, B. and Fontaine, M. 2019. 'Community': a useful concept in heritage studies?. International Journal of Heritage Studies 26(4), pp. 325-351. (10.1080/13527258.2019.1630662)
- Henwood, K., Dicks, B. and Housley, W. 2019. Qualitative research in reflexive mode: The participatory turn and interpretive social science. Qualitative Research 19(3), pp. 241-246. (10.1177/1468794119844103)
- Dicks, B. 2019. Competing sources of museum legitimacy: dominant, residual and emergent definitions. Urbanities - Journal of Urban Ethnography 9(Supple), pp. 29-36.
2018
- Dicks, B. 2018. Heritage as a social practice. In: Hooper, G. ed. Heritage at the Interface: Interpretation and Identity. Cultural Heritage Studies Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, pp. 11-24., (10.2307/j.ctvx06znr.6)
2016
- Henwood, K. L., Dicks, B. and Housley, W. 2016. Editorial. Qualitative Research 16(3), pp. 257. (10.1177/1468794116638982)
- Dicks, B. 2016. The habitus of heritage: a discussion of Bourdieu's ideas for visitor studies in heritage and museums. Museum and Society 14(1), pp. 52-64. (10.29311/mas.v14i1.625)
2015
- Housley, W., Dicks, B., Henwood, K. L. and Smith, R. J. 2015. Editorial. Qualitative Research 15(1), pp. 3-3. (10.1177/1468794114567381)
- Dicks, B. 2015. Heritage and social class. In: Waterton, E. and Watson, S. eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Heritage Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 366-38.
2013
- Dicks, B. 2013. Action, experience, communication: three methodological paradigms for researching multimodal and multisensory settings. Qualitative Research n/a (10.1177/1468794113501687)
- Dicks, B. 2013. Participatory community regeneration: a discussion of risks, accountability and crisis in devolved Wales. Urban Studies n/a (10.1177/0042098013493023)
- Dicks, B. 2013. Interacting with .. what? Exploring children's social and sensory practices in a science discovery centre. Ethnography and Education 8(3), pp. 301-322. (10.1080/17457823.2013.792677)
2011
- Dicks, B., Flewitt, R., Lancaster, L. and Pahl, K. 2011. Multimodality and ethnography: working at the intersection [Editorial]. Qualitative Research 11(3), pp. 227-237. (10.1177/1468794111400682)
- Hurdley, R. and Dicks, B. 2011. In-between practice: working in the 'thirdspace' of sensory and multimodal methodology. Qualitative Research 11(3), pp. 277-292. (10.1177/1468794111399837)
- Dicks, B. and Mason, B. 2011. Clickable data: hypermedia and social research. In: Hesse-Biber, S. N. ed. The handbook of emergent technologies in social research. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 133-157.
- Dicks, B. ed. 2011. Digital qualitative research methods. SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods. London: Sage.
2009
- Dicks, B. and Hurdley, R. 2009. Using unconventional media to disseminate qualitative research. Qualitative Researcher 10, pp. 2-6.
2008
- Dicks, B. 2008. Performing the hidden injuries of class in coal-mining heritage. Sociology 42(3), pp. 436-452. (10.1177/0038038508088824)
- Dicks, B. and Mason, B. 2008. Hypermedia methods for qualitative research. In: Hesse-Biber, S. N. and Leavy, P. eds. Handbook of Emergent Methods. New York, USA: Guilford Press, pp. 571-601.
2007
- Mason, B., Williams, M. L., Dicks, B. and Coffey, A. J. 2007. Possibilities of multimedia qualitative data archiving and sharing using eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML) [Briefing Paper]. Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/hyper/QUADS/Briefing%20paper%201%20XML.pdf
2006
- Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Holland, S., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. The significance of place in middle childhood: qualitative research from Wales. British Journal of Sociology 57(4), pp. 577-595. (10.1111/j.1468-4446.2006.00126.x)
- Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. Children, place and identity: nation and locality in middle childhood. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Coffey, A. J., Renold, E., Dicks, B., Soyinka, B. L. and Mason, B. L. 2006. Hypermedia ethnography in educational settings. Ethnography and Education 1(1), pp. 15-30. (10.1080/17457820500512721)
- Dicks, B., Soyinka, B. L. and Coffey, A. J. 2006. Multimodal ethnography. Qualitative Research 6(1), pp. 77-96. (10.1177/1468794106058876)
- Dicks, B., Mason, B., Williams, M. L. and Coffey, A. J. 2006. Ethnography and data re-use: issues of context and hypertext. Methodological Innovations 1(2), pp. 33-46. (10.4256/mio.2006.0010)
2005
- Dicks, B., Mason, B. L., Coffey, A. J. and Atkinson, P. A. 2005. Qualitative research and hypermedia: ethnography for the digital age. New Technologies for Social Research Series. London: Sage.
2004
- Williams, M. L., Dicks, B., Coffey, A. J. and Mason, B. 2004. Qualitative data sharing and reuse: mapping the ethical terrain [briefing paper]. Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/hyper/QUADS/Briefing%20paper%20ethics.pdf
- Dicks, B. 2004. Culture on display: the production of contemporary visitability. Buckingham: Open University Press.
2001
- Dicks, B., Waddington, D., Critcher, C. and Parry, D. 2001. Out of the ashes: the social impact of industrial contraction and regeneration on Britain's mining communities. Regions and Cities Vol. 25. London: Routledge.
2000
- Dicks, B. 2000. Heritage, place and community. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Articles
- Berger, S., Dicks, B. and Fontaine, M. 2019. 'Community': a useful concept in heritage studies?. International Journal of Heritage Studies 26(4), pp. 325-351. (10.1080/13527258.2019.1630662)
- Henwood, K., Dicks, B. and Housley, W. 2019. Qualitative research in reflexive mode: The participatory turn and interpretive social science. Qualitative Research 19(3), pp. 241-246. (10.1177/1468794119844103)
- Dicks, B. 2019. Competing sources of museum legitimacy: dominant, residual and emergent definitions. Urbanities - Journal of Urban Ethnography 9(Supple), pp. 29-36.
- Henwood, K. L., Dicks, B. and Housley, W. 2016. Editorial. Qualitative Research 16(3), pp. 257. (10.1177/1468794116638982)
- Dicks, B. 2016. The habitus of heritage: a discussion of Bourdieu's ideas for visitor studies in heritage and museums. Museum and Society 14(1), pp. 52-64. (10.29311/mas.v14i1.625)
- Housley, W., Dicks, B., Henwood, K. L. and Smith, R. J. 2015. Editorial. Qualitative Research 15(1), pp. 3-3. (10.1177/1468794114567381)
- Dicks, B. 2013. Action, experience, communication: three methodological paradigms for researching multimodal and multisensory settings. Qualitative Research n/a (10.1177/1468794113501687)
- Dicks, B. 2013. Participatory community regeneration: a discussion of risks, accountability and crisis in devolved Wales. Urban Studies n/a (10.1177/0042098013493023)
- Dicks, B. 2013. Interacting with .. what? Exploring children's social and sensory practices in a science discovery centre. Ethnography and Education 8(3), pp. 301-322. (10.1080/17457823.2013.792677)
- Dicks, B., Flewitt, R., Lancaster, L. and Pahl, K. 2011. Multimodality and ethnography: working at the intersection [Editorial]. Qualitative Research 11(3), pp. 227-237. (10.1177/1468794111400682)
- Hurdley, R. and Dicks, B. 2011. In-between practice: working in the 'thirdspace' of sensory and multimodal methodology. Qualitative Research 11(3), pp. 277-292. (10.1177/1468794111399837)
- Dicks, B. and Hurdley, R. 2009. Using unconventional media to disseminate qualitative research. Qualitative Researcher 10, pp. 2-6.
- Dicks, B. 2008. Performing the hidden injuries of class in coal-mining heritage. Sociology 42(3), pp. 436-452. (10.1177/0038038508088824)
- Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Holland, S., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. The significance of place in middle childhood: qualitative research from Wales. British Journal of Sociology 57(4), pp. 577-595. (10.1111/j.1468-4446.2006.00126.x)
- Coffey, A. J., Renold, E., Dicks, B., Soyinka, B. L. and Mason, B. L. 2006. Hypermedia ethnography in educational settings. Ethnography and Education 1(1), pp. 15-30. (10.1080/17457820500512721)
- Dicks, B., Soyinka, B. L. and Coffey, A. J. 2006. Multimodal ethnography. Qualitative Research 6(1), pp. 77-96. (10.1177/1468794106058876)
- Dicks, B., Mason, B., Williams, M. L. and Coffey, A. J. 2006. Ethnography and data re-use: issues of context and hypertext. Methodological Innovations 1(2), pp. 33-46. (10.4256/mio.2006.0010)
Book sections
- Dicks, B. 2019. Industrial heritage as place-making – the case of Wales. In: Berger, S. ed. Constructing Industrial Pasts: Industrial Heritage Making in Britain, the West and Post-Socialist Countries. Oxford: Berghahn Books
- Dicks, B. 2019. Multimodal analysis. In: Atkinson, P. et al. eds. SAGE Research Methods Foundations. London: Sage, (10.4135/9781526421036831970)
- Dicks, B. 2018. Heritage as a social practice. In: Hooper, G. ed. Heritage at the Interface: Interpretation and Identity. Cultural Heritage Studies Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, pp. 11-24., (10.2307/j.ctvx06znr.6)
- Dicks, B. 2015. Heritage and social class. In: Waterton, E. and Watson, S. eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Heritage Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 366-38.
- Dicks, B. and Mason, B. 2011. Clickable data: hypermedia and social research. In: Hesse-Biber, S. N. ed. The handbook of emergent technologies in social research. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 133-157.
- Dicks, B. and Mason, B. 2008. Hypermedia methods for qualitative research. In: Hesse-Biber, S. N. and Leavy, P. eds. Handbook of Emergent Methods. New York, USA: Guilford Press, pp. 571-601.
Books
- Dicks, B. ed. 2011. Digital qualitative research methods. SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods. London: Sage.
- Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. Children, place and identity: nation and locality in middle childhood. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Dicks, B., Mason, B. L., Coffey, A. J. and Atkinson, P. A. 2005. Qualitative research and hypermedia: ethnography for the digital age. New Technologies for Social Research Series. London: Sage.
- Dicks, B. 2004. Culture on display: the production of contemporary visitability. Buckingham: Open University Press.
- Dicks, B., Waddington, D., Critcher, C. and Parry, D. 2001. Out of the ashes: the social impact of industrial contraction and regeneration on Britain's mining communities. Regions and Cities Vol. 25. London: Routledge.
- Dicks, B. 2000. Heritage, place and community. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Monographs
- Mason, B., Williams, M. L., Dicks, B. and Coffey, A. J. 2007. Possibilities of multimedia qualitative data archiving and sharing using eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML) [Briefing Paper]. Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/hyper/QUADS/Briefing%20paper%201%20XML.pdf
- Williams, M. L., Dicks, B., Coffey, A. J. and Mason, B. 2004. Qualitative data sharing and reuse: mapping the ethical terrain [briefing paper]. Cardiff University. Available at: http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/hyper/QUADS/Briefing%20paper%20ethics.pdf
- Dicks, B. 2018. Heritage as a social practice. In: Hooper, G. ed. Heritage at the Interface: Interpretation and Identity. Cultural Heritage Studies Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, pp. 11-24., (10.2307/j.ctvx06znr.6)
- Hurdley, R. and Dicks, B. 2011. In-between practice: working in the 'thirdspace' of sensory and multimodal methodology. Qualitative Research 11(3), pp. 277-292. (10.1177/1468794111399837)
- Dicks, B. and Mason, B. 2011. Clickable data: hypermedia and social research. In: Hesse-Biber, S. N. ed. The handbook of emergent technologies in social research. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 133-157.
- Dicks, B. ed. 2011. Digital qualitative research methods. SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods. London: Sage.
- Dicks, B. and Hurdley, R. 2009. Using unconventional media to disseminate qualitative research. Qualitative Researcher 10, pp. 2-6.
- Dicks, B. 2008. Performing the hidden injuries of class in coal-mining heritage. Sociology 42(3), pp. 436-452. (10.1177/0038038508088824)
- Dicks, B. and Mason, B. 2008. Hypermedia methods for qualitative research. In: Hesse-Biber, S. N. and Leavy, P. eds. Handbook of Emergent Methods. New York, USA: Guilford Press, pp. 571-601.
- Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Holland, S., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. The significance of place in middle childhood: qualitative research from Wales. British Journal of Sociology 57(4), pp. 577-595. (10.1111/j.1468-4446.2006.00126.x)
- Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. Children, place and identity: nation and locality in middle childhood. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Coffey, A. J., Renold, E., Dicks, B., Soyinka, B. L. and Mason, B. L. 2006. Hypermedia ethnography in educational settings. Ethnography and Education 1(1), pp. 15-30. (10.1080/17457820500512721)
- Dicks, B., Soyinka, B. L. and Coffey, A. J. 2006. Multimodal ethnography. Qualitative Research 6(1), pp. 77-96. (10.1177/1468794106058876)
- Dicks, B., Mason, B., Williams, M. L. and Coffey, A. J. 2006. Ethnography and data re-use: issues of context and hypertext. Methodological Innovations 1(2), pp. 33-46. (10.4256/mio.2006.0010)
- Dicks, B., Mason, B. L., Coffey, A. J. and Atkinson, P. A. 2005. Qualitative research and hypermedia: ethnography for the digital age. New Technologies for Social Research Series. London: Sage.
- Dicks, B. 2004. Culture on display: the production of contemporary visitability. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Research
My main research interests are in the field of cultural sociology, and especially in social identities and how social groups actively use the historic past in places and spaces of cultural representation to make social meaning (e.g. in museums and heritage sites). This includes work on processes of collective memory-making and participatory strategies for community representation.
I am particularly interested in how people-in-places deal with the cultural and social dislocations accompanying de-industrialisation and depopulation and how regeneration strategies are produced - especially the role of community members on the ground. In these areas my concern is with questions of class, racialisation, place stigma and gender. I am also a specialist in qualitative methodologies, focussing on ethnography and multimodal research.
Currently, I'm working on a research project centred in Calabria, in the South of Italy, a region that is experiencing rapid population loss and ageing. I am studying responses to economic and population decline through ethnogrpahic research in four liocalities. In the process I am collaborating with sociologists in the Department of Political and Social Sciences (DISPES) at the University of Calabria.
Teaching
I currently lead and teach on the Key Ideas in Social Science module for year 1 undergraduates across the School of Social Sciences. I am also developing new teaching at Masters level for the Global Heritage programme based in the School of Modern Languages.
I have supervised 15 students to successful completion of their PhDs and am currently supervising five doctoral projects.
Biography
The start of my academic journey came during two years as a Language Assistant ('lettore') at the Istituto Orientale Universitario in Naples in the late 1980s. There I was introduced to Cultural Studies, which inspired me to think about language and how we articulate our experiences through cultural representations. After a Masters in Communication Studies at Sheffield City Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University), I worked on an ESRC project looking at community responses to job loss in the collieries surrounding Doncaster, where I also grew up. This sparked an enduring research interest in the effects of economic decline on communities and how people respond to it on the ground.
In 1993, I took up a post at Cardiff University as Tutorial Fellow in the then School of Social and Administrative Studies (SOCAS). South Wales offered the chance to work on a distinctive coalfield community context and to explore the social relations of an older industrial region. At the time, many UK deindustrialising areas were investing in visitor attractions to seek economic regeneration, and I based my doctoral research on an ex-colliery in the Rhondda Valleys that had recently transformed into a Heritage Park. It provoked a variety of local responses which it was fascinating to explore.
The sociology team I joined at Cardiff played, and still plays, a leading role in the development of ethnographic methods for social research. I learnt a lot about qualitative methodologies here, especially in the new digital context of the early 2000s. After my PhD, I began work on an ESRC-funded project led by Prof. Paul Atkinson, Use Of Hypermedia Techniques In The Analysis & Dissemination Of Qualitative Data. This led to later methodological projects - on hypermedia for ethnography, secondary data analysis and multimodal research.
In 1999 I became a lecturer in Sociology in the new School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University and in 2014 gained a Personal Chair. From 2016-2019 I was seconded to Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum of Wales as Head of Research, another hugely important learning experience for me. Since returning to my University duties I have served as Deputy Head of the School (2021-24) and - returning to my Italian starting block - have recently developed a new ethnographic research project on depopulation in Calabria, Southern Italy.
Honours and awards
Visiting Professor, University of Calabria, Italy (2022, 2025).
Visiting Professor, University of Saint Etienne-Lyon, France (2010).
Professional memberships
I am a member of:
British Sociological Association
Association of Critical Heritage Studies
International Urban Symposium
Supervisions
Supervision
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas of sociology:
- Community, civil society, participation
- Belonging, place/nation, neighbourhood, inclusion/exclusion
- Class, inequalities, identities
- Heritage, collective memory, museums and science centres, cultural display, tourism
- Regeneration, post-industrial identities of place/people
- Digital and online interactions/methodologies - qualitative
- Qualitative methodology, ethnography, multimodality.
Contact Details
+44 29208 75231
Glamorgan Building, Floor 2nd, Room 2:36, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA
Research themes
Specialisms
- Culture, representation and identity
- Heritage tourism, visitor and audience studies
- social inequalities
- Public participation and community engagement