Research Profile

Richard Scriven

Biography

Research Interests

My research investigates pilgrimage practices, as an embodied mobility, in contemporary Ireland. Pilgrimage is a distinctly spatial human behaviour, involving performances that are centred on specific places. Insights offered by the ‘mobilities turn‘ within the social sciences, which has highlighted the significance of movement, fluidity and the nomadic in shaping the world, inform this approach. Utilising the ontological framework of the new mobilities paradigm with insights from nonrepresentational geographies, pilgrimage is engaged with as an embodied mobility.
 

The practice of pilgrimage can be seen as a process involving the subjects (pilgrims) and the spaces (sacred places/landscapes) both being defined by and, even, emerging through their interactions with each other.
 

This study involves frameworks and approaches that can considered pilgrimage in terms of both the representational (understandings, narratives, ideologies) and the practical/ nonrepresentational (embodied experiences, beliefs, sensual). This requires the consideration of methodological challenges in attempts to access and capture a holistic appreciation of pilgrimage (including the experiential and sensual, as much as the observable and representable) as it is occurring in place.
 

The adoption of an ethnographic methodology allows for the integration of the theoretical framework of the new mobilities paradigm, with particular reference to the geographies of mobilities, and a selection of research methods. Such an approach allows for a blend of the strength of ethnography, as a methodology that privileges direct contact with people in place, and more recent innovations that aim to get closer to the actual practices as they are occurring, so to access and to capture them in real time. This mobility ethnography consists of a collection of complementary methods: participant observation, photography, audio-visual recording, interviews, and visual and documentary research.
 

The research focuses on a number of case studies, including local/regional devotional sites (a selection of holy wells in the South West of Ireland) and a Lough Derg and Croagh Patrick as national pilgrimage locations. The fieldwork requires that each site be visited multiple times, especially at key dates/feast days.

Publications

Books

 YearPublication
(2015)Wells, Graves & Statues: Exploring the heritage & culture of pilgrimage in medieval & modern Cork city.
Nugent, Louise, & Scriven, Richard (2015) Wells, Graves & Statues: Exploring the heritage & culture of pilgrimage in medieval & modern Cork city. Cork: Self-Published. [Details]

Other Journals

 YearPublication
(2013)'Video methodologies and engaging with mobilities'
Scriven, Richard (2013) 'Video methodologies and engaging with mobilities' Chimera, 26 . [Details]

Book Reviews

 YearPublication
(2015)Troubled Geographies: A Spatial History of Religion and Society in Ireland.
Scriven, R (2015) Troubled Geographies: A Spatial History of Religion and Society in Ireland. Book Reviews [Details]

Professional Activities

Honours and Awards

 YearTitleAwarding Body
2012Geographical Society of Ireland Postgraduate Fieldwork/Travel Award Geographical Society of Ireland
2013Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Irish Research Council
2015Cork City Council Local Heritage Publication Grant Cork City Council
2012College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences (UCC) Postgraduate Research/Conference Fund, College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, UCC
2011Department of Geography (UCC) PhD Studentship Department of Geography, UCC
2008Michael Joseph McEnery Postgraduate Memorial Scholarship Department of History, UCC
2007College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences Masters Scholarships College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, UCC
2005James and Mary Hogan Award Department of History, UCC
2004College Scholar UCC
2003College Scholar UCC

Professional Associations

 AssociationFunctionFrom / To
Geographical Society of Ireland Member31-JAN-12 / 31-DEC-15
Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers Society Fellow18-FEB-15 / 31-DEC-16
RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geography Research Group Committee Member Dissertation Prize Coordinator27-AUG-14 / 30-AUG-17
Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers Postgraduate Fellow01-MAR-13 / 31-DEC-14

Conference Contributions

 YearPublication
(2013)RGS-IBG Annual International Conference,
Scriven, Richard (2013) Weaving Paths: Movement, landscapes, and corporeal encounters. [Oral Presentation], RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, London , 28-AUG-13 - 30-AUG-13. [Details]
(2013)Fourth International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies,
Scriven, Richard (2013) Spaces of encounters and experience: embodiment and emplacement at Irish holy wells. [Oral Presentation], Fourth International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies, Groningen, The Netherlands , 01-JUL-13 - 03-JUL-13. [Details]
(2013)Conference of Irish Geographers 2013,
Scriven, Richard (2013) Flesh, Stone, Water: intersections of bodies, spaces and immateriality at the Irish holy well. [Oral Presentation], Conference of Irish Geographers 2013, NUI, Galway , 16-MAY-13 - 18-MAY-13. [Details]
(2013)RGS-IBG Postgraduate Mid Term Conference 2013,
Scriven, Richard (2013) Mobile Methodologies and Methodologies of Mobility: engaging with practices in place and out-of-place. [Oral Presentation], RGS-IBG Postgraduate Mid Term Conference 2013, University of Birmingham , 25-MAR-13 - 26-MAR-13. [Details]
(2012)College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences Annual Postgraduate Conference,
Scriven, Richard (2012) Engaging Performances in Place: Studying pilgrimage practices. [Oral Presentation], College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences Annual Postgraduate Conference, University College Cork , 10-NOV-12 - 10-NOV-12. [Details]
(2012)RGS-IBG Annual International Conference,
Scriven, Richard (2012) Pilgrimage as embodied mobility: approaches and methods. [Oral Presentation], RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, University of Edinburgh , 03-JUL-12 - 05-JUL-13. [Details]
(2012)Conference of Irish Geographers 2012,
Scriven, Richard (2012) Embodied mobilities of pilgrims in Ireland. [Poster Presentation], Conference of Irish Geographers 2012, Trinity College Dublin , 25-MAY-12 - 27-MAY-12. [Details]
(2012)RGS-IBG Postgraduate Mid Term Conference 2012,,
Richard Scriven (2012) Pilgrimage Practices: The embodied mobilities of pilgrims and the nonrepresentational. [Oral Presentation], RGS-IBG Postgraduate Mid Term Conference 2012,, Nottingham , 20-APR-12 - 22-APR-12. [Details]
(2012)Learning to Teach in Higher Education Postgraduate Symposium,
Scriven, Richard (2012) Encouraging a Participatory Learning Environment through engaging activities and the use of the classroom space. [Oral Presentation], Learning to Teach in Higher Education Postgraduate Symposium, University College Cork , 23-FEB-12 - 23-FEB-12. [Details]

Committees

 CommitteeFunctionFrom / To
RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geography Research Group Dissertation Prize Coordinator2014 / 2015
Geographical Society of Ireland Committee Postgraduate Representative2012 / 2014
RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geography Research Group Committee Member Postgraduate Representative2013 / 2014
RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum (PGF) Committee Member Annual Conference Sessions Coordinator2013 / 2014
RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum (PGF) Committee Member PGF-ACTS Coordinator2012 / 2013

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

GG2014 Geography of Tourism

This module will examine the rapidly changing geographical relationships and environmental impacts of the tourist industry. Particular attention will be focused on the geography of tourism in Ireland and Western Europe generally. Special emphasis will also be placed on the expanding heritage industry in Ireland.

GG3037 Geography of Heritage

This module examines the meaning of heritage in contemporary societies. It will specifically deal with issues of conservation and representation. Important heritage landscapes continue to be threatened by modern development. By focusing on specific case studies, it will examine the value placed on heritage in society. The politics of heritage will also be explored. Questions of identity, nationalism, and multiculturalism are central then to any discussion of the geography of heritage.

GG3049 Historical Geographies of Ireland: Social, Economic and Cultural Transformations

To provide a comprehensive understanding of how Irish society, economy and culture has changed over time. To identify and examine the processes that underpin change. The module places social, economic and cultural change in a national and international context.

GG2022 Field Work

In lectures students will be introduced to the cultural, economic, historical and physical background of the area they are to study. Students will then spend seven days based in a location either in Ireland or abroad during which time they will carry out assignments that require the use of geographical field research methods, attend visits/lectures on local issues and discuss issues related to research in the area at course seminars.

Contact details

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Department of Geography

Tíreolaíocht

University College Cork, Cork

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