Camila Plaza

I am a researcher specialized in museums, heritage and history with almost ten years of experience in the GLAM sector in Chile. I had a bachelor degree in history and a master’s degree in gender studies from the University of Chile. I am also trained as a cultural manager at the Alberto Hurtado University. I am currently pursuing the PhD programme in museum studies at the University of Leicester.

Since I began my studies of Bachelor in History I participated in different instances and roles in heritage institutions such as the National Historical Museum in Chile, the Andrés Bello Central Archive of the University of Chile and the Eduardo Frei Montalva House Museum, especially in their areas of community engagement and mediation. At the same time, I worked as an assistant in research projects on Latin-American Colonial History and I developed my bachelor’s and master’s thesis on this subject, applying methodologies of Cultural History and Gender Studies. Nevertheless, my development in the heritage field grew and I was invited to work as a researcher in charge of outreach and communication within the Heritage Research Area of the  Andrés Bello Central Archive in Universidad de Chile. Parallel to that work, I developed projects financed with national public funds that allowed me to delve into the initial questions I had about bibliographic heritage and its interpretative possibilities, guarded by the Universidad de Chile and the Chilean National Library.

All this led me to turn my research career around, and I applied to the School of Museum Studies in Leicester with a project on the history of museum practices in university museums in Chile. Fortunately I was accepted and I am developing this research funded by BECAS CHILE. In addition, I am the Principal Investigator in the project 'Rescuing scientific memories of Chile. Diagnosis of archives of university science museums in the Metropolitan Region' financed by the Cultural Heritage Fund of the National Heritage Service.

I have experience in the design and execution of research projects in the areas of museology, critical studies of heritage and cultural history. I have worked applying qualitative methodological perspectives such as historiographic reflexivity, organizational and archival ethnography and grounded social theory, and I have experience in the management of the qualitative analysis software Atlas ti.

2021 - actuality. PHD Researcher, School of museum studies, University of Leicester.

I am developing the research 'Showcasing knowledge and disciplines. Historiographical reflexivity to understand university museum practices in Chile' supervised by Dr David Unwin and financed by BECASCHILE. The research is situated from the perspective of Cultural Studies, which allows an interdisciplinary approach that combines elements and questions of museology, critical studies of heritage and cultural history with the aim of understanding the emergence of museum projects within institutions of Higher Education since the second half of the twentieth century.

2022 - actuality. Principal Investigator.

I am the principal investigator in charge of coordinate and execute the project 'Rescuing scientific memories of Chile. Diagnosis of archives of university science museums in the Metropolitan Region', financed by the Cultural Heritage Fund of the National Heritage Service of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage in Chile.

2021 - Feb. 2022, Research Assistant

Research assistant of the FONIS project SA 1810056 'Chagas challenges for today’s Chile: Diversity, migration, territory and access to rights: a qualitative approach to the dynamics of care of Chagas disease in the regions of Tarapacá, Atacama and Metropolitana'. My main function consisted in qualitative analysis of interviews following the principles of Grounded Social Theory and using the qualitative analysis software Atlas ti.

Oct. 2016 - Oct. 2020 Research Assistant

Research Assistant of the Fondecyt Project n°3160106 2016 'It is not the same to give birth at home or abroad: migrant women - foreigners and nationals, pregnancy experiences in public and private services in Santiago de Chile', directed by Dr. Andrea Avaria, Interdisciplinary Program of Migratory Studies, Alberto Hurtado University.

Jun. 2017 - May. 2019 Co-researcher

Co-researcher of the Regional Fondart Project, Heritage Line, Research Modality 'Register, treasure, remember: traces of manipulation in small format books at the Medina Fund', directed by researcher Francisco Burdiles. We develop a research to enhance the Bibliographic Heritage of the National Library of Chile. I was in charge of reviewing the bibliographic material, writing and edition of texts, coordinate of community engagement activities.

Mar. 2017 - Jul. 2018 Research Assistant

Research assistant of the Secular Culture Project in Chile under the Neruda Chair agreement between the Central Archive of the University of Chile and the Pablo Neruda Foundation. Within the framework of this initiative I had to review the collection of journals Anales of the University of Chile in order to identify the genealogy of lay thought in Chile.

Mar. 2017 - Mar. 2018 Co-Researcher Project 'Women in Santiago: images and testimonies'

Co-researcher of the Women’s Project in Santiago: images and testimonies, directed by researcher Dr Azún Candina, from the Andrés Bello Central Archive, the Department of the University of Chile and the Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna Museum.

Mar. 2014 - Apr. 2015 Postgraduate researcher

Research project Fondecyt n°1120083 'History of the body and colonization of the imaginary: the case of the Captaincy General of Chile' directed by researcher Alejandra Araya, with the research project ' Abducted and Rapists of the General Captaincy of Chile. Study of Gender Relations and Colonial Experience, 1666-1776' presented to apply for the Master’s degree in Gender and Culture Studies, Humanities mention of the University of Chile.

2022. Workshop facilitator, ¨Attend, clear, promote. University cultural heritage¨ implemented within the framework of the Cultural Heritage Fund 35765.

2018. Workshop facilitator, ¨Tools for Cultural Management¨, at Central Archive Andrés Bello, Universidad de Chile.

2017. Workshop facilitator, ¨Research Methodologies with a Gender Perspective¨, at INACAP, Puente Alto.

2014-2015. E-learning training tutor of the on-line course ¨Creation of visual organizers and conceptual maps for history, geography and social sciences¨, Ministry of Education through Intercap- Technical Training Agency.

2014. Teaching Assistant of the undergraduate course ¨History of Chile in the Eighteenth century and the Revolution of Independence¨, Department of Historical Sciences, University of Chile.

2013. Teaching Assistant of the Winter Schools "Dilemmas of contemporary Chile": Workshop "Microhistory: your life in Chile´s History", Professor: Alejandra Araya. Organized by the Vice-rectory of Outreach.

2021-2022. Editor in chief of Museological Review, academic journal of the PhD programme of the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester.

2021. Member of the organisation committee of Research Week 2022 in the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, June 2021.

2017-2020. Head Researcher of Community Engagement and Communications at the Heritage Research Area of the Central Archive Andrés Bello of University of Chile.

2015-2016. Mediator and cultural animator in the Educational Area of the House Museum of Eduardo Frei Montalva (Chile).

2013-2014. Mediator and cultural animator in the Educational Area of the National Historical Museum (Chile).

2021-2024. PhD Scholarship funded by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID)/Scholarship Program/DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2020-72210003.

2021. National Heritage Fund to finance the project ¨Rescuing Scientific Memories in Chile. Diagnosis of the state of the archives of the University Museums of Science of the Metropolitan Region ̈. Folio 35765.

2018. National Fund for Cultural Development and the Arts, Training Line, Modality of Specialties (to finance the studies of the Diploma in Public and Private Cultural Management).

2014. Academic Collaborative Scholarship, Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, University of Chile (to finance part of the Ma study).