Isobel Ward is a PhD student in the Department of Geography. Originally studying and working in architecture, she completed a MA in Anthropology and Cultural Politics at Goldsmiths before moving to King's to complete a PhD. She has an interest in the spatial politics of the city from both a design and social sciences perspective.

Isobel has worked for architects in London, Mumbai and Tokyo on a range of projects from gallery installations, to schools and Crossrail. She has conducted research with a number of small organisations working to improve the right to the city. Most recently, she worked on a project called 'A sensory ethnography of Smithfields', which explored the multiple and shifting identities and place attachments at Smithfields Market, the oldest wholesale meat market in London.

Research

Thesis title: 'The cultural politics of home in Tottenham and Kings Cross: The uneven geographies of home'

Based on ethnographic research in London, amongst communities that are undergoing considerable urban renewal, this project explores the multiple meanings of 'home' that diverse Londoners have. Through discussions around movement and migration, place attachment and social ties with residents who are both long term and more transient, the project looks at processes of making and re-making home. In an environment where political and economic changes can rupture a sense of home, it asks who has a right to decide what home is and how do people constantly reformulate their conceptions of home in response to changes.

PhD supervision

• Principal supervisor:  Luke Dickens
• Secondary supervisor:  Nicholas de Genova

Further details

See Isobel's research profile