C²PHD: Camilla Portesani – On participatory public history, working with museums, and writing a thesis along the way

Camilla Portesani – On participatory public history, working with museums, and writing a thesis along the way

In our fourth episode, we are joined by Camilla Portesani, a doctoral candidate working on the PHACS Project (Public History as the new Citizen Science of the Past) since 2021. As part of her PhD, Camilla launched the Participatory Public History Lab, a pilot project developed in collaboration with the House of European History in Brussels. Her work has meant working across departments, institutions, and mindsets, navigating the complex realities of collaborative frameworks in large cultural institutions, all while bringing together a group of students-turned-co-curators.

Tune in as Camilla shares her reflections on the project, what it’s like to collaborate with major institutions, the skills she had to develop along the way, and the juggling act of doing hands-on work while writing a PhD thesis.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:04 The House of European History
• 2:34 Writing History with the Public
• 4:03 Putting together a new project within an existing museal framework
• 7:06 Biggest takeaway from the project
• 9:57 Balancing project work and thesis writing
• 12:44 Moving away from the manuscript?
• 15:42 Advice on pursuing a project-based PhD
• 17:41 Your ideal curatorial project