Dariya Afanasyeva

Title of the Dissertation

Shared Heritage: Sacred landscapes of Crimea, their development and protection in the multi-cultural context

Supervisor(s): Prof. Michael Schmidt, Prof. Marie-Theres Albert

Description

Based on the case study of the sacred landscapes in Crimea (Ukraine), the research examines the processes through which specific natural features become invested with meaning of a religious kind. It explores the ways in which intangible values attached to a landscape by the people contribute to both protection of this landscape and the shaping of people‘s cultural and religious identity. 

Short Bio

Dariya Afanasyeva obtained a Master’s degree in Applied Psychology at Dnepropetrovsk State University of Ukraine in 2001. In 2002 she joined the World Heritage Studies programme at BTU Cottbus, from which she graduated in 2004 and was awarded the Master of Arts degree. Her Master’s thesis was entitled “Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism Management at Cultural Heritage Sites - A Case Study from the Archaeological Heritage Site of Abila in Northern Jordan”. From 2004 and until December 2009, Ms. Afanasyeva worked as a research assistant at BTU Cottbus. In Summer Semester 2010 she became a PhD candidate at the International Graduate School: Heritage Studies. Her major research interests lie in the fields of cultural landscapes.