My website Suzie Thomas

I am a heritage scholar who has worked in various parts of Europe and collaborated and published with colleagues from all over the world. 

I received my BA in Archaeology and Prehistory from the University of Sheffield (UK) in 2000 and obtained a MA with Distinction in Heritage Education and Interpretation from Newcastle University (UK) in 2002. After completing my MA I worked in various museums in England while completing my PhD on a part-time basis. I was fortunate to be awarded a grant from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council in 2007-2008, which allowed me to complete my PhD, also at Newcastle University's International Centre for Cultural Heritage Studies, in 2009. My doctoral research looked at the relationships between archaeologists and metal detectorists in England and Wales, and drew upon ethnographic methods and archival research. 

Following my PhD I worked at the Council for British Archaeology, based in York, UK, as Community Archaeology Support Officer. During this time I was part of a team that successfully obtained funding from the UK's Heritage Lottery Fund to support more than 50 traineeships hosted at different heritage organisations across the UK to provide archaeologists with the skills needed to work successfully and meaningfully in the field of community archaeology. 

From 2012-2014 I worked as a post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Glasgow (UK) on the ERC Starting Grant project "Trafficking Culture" which investigated transnational criminal networks in relation to the illicit trade and movement of cultural objects. In Spring of 2014 I moved to the University of Helsinki (Finland) to take up a permanent university lectureship in Museum Studies. 

During my time in Helsinki, as well as teaching Museum Studies and then (from 2018 as Acting Professor and then Associate Professor) Cultural Heritage Studies, I was involved in numerous research projects. These included "Lapland's Dark Heritage", and "FindSampo", in the latter of which as PI. Both projects were funded by the Academy of Finland. I have also worked on several funded workshop series across the Nordic region, including two workshop series funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS). 

In 2017 I was a recipient of the Presidential Recognition Award from the Society for American Archaeology for my role in the "Professional Archaeologists, Avocational Archaeologists, and Responsible Artifact Collectors Relationships Task Force" of the SAA. In 2020 I received the University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts' Tuhat Award, an annual prize given to a Faculty member for outstanding work in publishing and dissemination. 

In September 2021 I joined the University of Antwerp as a Professor (hoogleraar) of Heritage Studies within the ARCHES research group. Here I am responsible for teaching courses on themes of heritage and participation, 'dark' heritage, and heritage crime. I am currently further exploring and developing my research interests in different stake-holder perspectives on archaeological artefacts (or ancient belongings), as well as diversifying and expanding my research interests in contested and difficult heritage.