Name
BADESCU, Gruia
Position and Affiliated Institution
Research Fellow (Research Group Leader), Zukunftskolleg (Institute for Advanced Study), University of Konstanz
Highest Degree
Ph.D., University of Cambridge
Education and Academic Employment
| Education: | |
| 2007 | BA, Middlebury College, Geography and European Studies |
| 2009 | MSc, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), City Design and Social Science |
| 2018 | PhD, University of Cambridge |
| Academic Employment: | |
| 2015-2018 | Lecturer and Research Associate, University of Oxford |
| 2017-2024 | Visiting Lecturer, SNSPA Bucharest |
| 2019-2021 | Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Konstanz |
| 2024-2025 | Research Fellow, Paris Institute for Advanced Studies |
| 2020-present | Research Fellow (Research Group Leader), Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz |
Research Topic
Cities after war: Urban reconstruction and memory-work
Research Fields of Interest
- Cities after political ruptures
- Post-war urban reconstruction
- Cities during and after authoritarianism
- Comparative urbanism;
- Dealing with the past after war, dictatorship, and empire, transitional justice
- Legacies of empire, imperial duress, imperial nostalgia
- Urban cosmopolitanism; migration, refugees; syncretic place-making;
- Architecture and memory
Academic Publications
- Bădescu, G. (2022). “The City as a World in Common: Syncretic Place-Making as a Spatial Approach to Peace.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 16(5).
- Bădescu, G. (2024). “Remaking the Urban: International Actors and the Post-war Reconstruction of Cities.” International Studies Quarterly, 68(2).
- Bădescu, G., Baillie, B., & Mazzucchelli, F. (eds.) (2021). *Synchronous Pasts: Transforming Heritage in the Former Yugoslavia. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bădescu, Gruia (2020) “Rewritten in stone: imperial heritage in the sacred place of the nation”, Cultural Studies, 34 (5), pp. 707-729.
- Bădescu, G. (2019). ‘Making Sense of Ruins: Architectural Reconstruction and Collective Memory in Belgrade’. Nationalities Papers, pp. 182-197
Professional Affiliations
- Memory Studies Association (Convener, Space, Place and Memory Working Group)
- International Network for Urban Research and Action (INURA)
- Memory Lab, Trans-European Exchange Platform on History and Remembrance
- International Sociological Association RC21 (Sociology of Urban and Regional Development)
- Association for Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS)
- Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES)
Honors
- RFIEA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (2024–2025)
- Zukunftskolleg Research Fellowship (2020–2026)
- Eric Lane Award, Clare College, University of Cambridge (2017)
- Award for Best Doctoral Paper on European Geography, Association of American Geographers, Chicago (2015)
- Aspen Institute Romania Fellowship for Young Leaders (2013)
- Romanian Graduate Student of the Year Award, Europe Section (2013)
- Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship (2008–2014)
- National Geographic Society Young Explorer Grant (2008–2010)
Other Interests
Enjoys architecture, cities, traveling, photography, and cinema. Interested in cultural exchange and exploring cities through their histories and built environments.
HP
https://www.geschichte.uni-konstanz.de/forschung-geschichte/kolar/team/dr-gruia-badescu/
