Josh Bland

  • Graduate Member, Cambridge Heritage Research Centre
  • PhD Student in Archaeology
Josh Bland

Contact

Location

  • Department of Archaeology
  • Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ

About

Josh Bland is a funded ESRC PhD researcher at the Cambridge Heritage Research Centre in the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. His research specialisms are football culture, industrial heritage, intangible cultural heritage, living heritage, heritage and home and cultural resilience. His current PhD project explores how involvement in cultures of football support may empower working-class communities to exercise cultural resilience against deindustrialisation in the Northeast of England. 

Josh is also currently Director of Research at The Deep Creative. He has previously led a Curating London project on football and home at the Museum of London and worked as Director of Policy for sports policy think tank Fair Game.

Research

My main research focus is examining English football culture(s) through the lens of critical heritage studies. I am particularly interested in developing the field of sports heritage, the relationship between living heritage and cultural resilience and the affect of heritage in contexts of change. As such I am interested in researching intangible heritage(s), heritage and community, heritage and identity, continuity, heritage and emotion, heritage and home, working-class heritage and industrial heritage. 

Other Publications

Bland, J. (2024) 'Chinlone: Sports and the colonial encounter in Myanmar' Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Digital Lab. Available at: Sport and Colonial Encounter in Myanmar – MAA Digital Lab

Bland, J. (2022) Football in the UK: an introduction to heritage studies. AccessEd Learning Resource. Available at: Football in the UK: an introduction to heritage studies by Josh Bland - Access Ed 

Fair Game (2021) 'Putting Pride Back in the Shirt: Fair Game's solutions to the National Game' Available at: Fair+Game+Manifesto+FINAL.pdf 

Fair Game (2021) 'Solutions for our National Game: Proposed Solutions for Football' Available at: Fair+Game+-+Solutions+for+our+National+Game+(4).pdf