Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures
The Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures focuses on the past, present and future importance of urban-maritime cultures and communities within a global context.
The increasing concern about social and economic deprivation in coastal communities has underscored the importance of focusing scholarly work on the waterfront. We're dedicated to investigating the opportunities that exist for cultural and heritage enrichment initiatives and community engagement programmes in this area.
Working with academics, creative practitioners, funders and local community groups, we explore the relationships between urban and maritime spaces and seek to empower our disadvantaged communities.
The Centre produces a newsletter called Maritime Matters every other month. The next newsletter is out in January. To subscribe email pcmc@port.ac.uk.
Latest news
More news
Landmark women in maritime exhibition comes to Portsmouth
University of Portsmouth and Mary Rose Trust forge strategic partnership for maritime heritage
From steam to green: Lloyd's Register Foundation funds maritime energy transition research to understand impact on coastal communities
PhD scholarships will investigate ‘hidden treasures’ to help plan for the future of local institutions
University of Portsmouth and Mary Rose Trust forge strategic alliance for maritime excellence
Latest blogs
More blogs
Podcast focuses on shipping and energy transitions: from sail to steam and to the green technologies of the future
Call for Papers: Port Cities and Maritime Cultures International Conference, 10-11 June 2025
Podcast explores the unique port city of Portsmouth: from banana imports to conserving HMS Victory
Labour has been virtually silent on Britain’s neglected seaside towns – they need a national strategy
Our work focuses on the following key themes:
Construction and experience of urban-maritime cultures
- We're researching the extent to which urban-maritime contexts were and are unique sites of cultural formation.
- We're exploring key themes related to cultural construction, such as whether urban-maritime spaces are shaped by international migratory networks.
Representations of urban-maritime spaces and cultures
- We're exploring how urban-maritime spaces are represented in historical and contemporary literary, film and media contexts.
- We seek to understand how past narratives of urban-maritime spaces have affected our perception of port cities and maritime cultures.
Recovering marginalised voices: Coastal communities and maritime heritage
- We're researching how our dominant urban-maritime heritage is selected and promoted, and how that can be questioned.
- We actively work with coastal communities in co-producing a shared heritage in nationally and international contexts.
Conservation of tangible and intangible heritage
- We're researching how we can develop innovative ways of conserving tangible and intangible heritage.
- Our key aim is to develop inclusive methods of heritage conservation.
Publication highlights
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Global Studies in Social and Cultural Maritime History
Various authors. (2021- ), "Global Studies in Social and Cultural Maritime History", Palgrave Macmillan
This series seeks to reconnect the maritime sphere with broader social and cultural histories across the globe. It looks to an emergent area of historiography: how the maritime was a space of global social and cultural exchange.
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Coastal Studies & Society
Sage Journals.
Coastal Studies & Society aims to coordinate and direct sustained attention to the relationship between the land and sea and society that comprises a nature-culture hybrid territory which has appeared at the periphery of so many academic inquiries, but at the centre of too few.
Research projects
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Sail to Steam, Carbon to Green: Empowering Port Communities in the Global South
A £635,000 grant for a six-year project to learn lessons from past maritime energy transitions has been awarded to the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures at the University of Portsmouth.
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Portsmouth Literary Map
The Portsmouth Literary Map project celebrates Portsmouth as a current and historical city of literature, through an interactive map and ongoing blog.
Our members
PhD students
- Charlotte Chan
- Max Dixon
- Jaina Hunt
- Jack Hunter
- Oscar Karlsson
- Callum O’Connell
- Stephanie Rickson
- Daniel Rowley
- Charlotte Steffen
- Daisy Turnbull
- Corey Watson
Associate members
- Professor Joanne Begiato, Professor of History and Material Culture Studies and Associate Dean of Research, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
- Dr John Griffiths, Independent Scholar
- Dr Maya Hamada, Associate Professor of Modern Chinese Literature - University of Kobe, Japan
- Professor Faye Hammill, Professor of Literature - University of Glasgow
- Professor Daisuke Higuchi, Professor of Japanese Historical Literature - University of Kobe, Japan
- Professor Isaac Land, Professor of History - Indiana State University, USA
- Dr Ivana Lam, Independent Scholar
- Dr Margarette Lincoln, Curator Emeritus - National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
- Dr Louise Moon, Heritage and Sustainable Impact Manager - Transport for Wales
- Dr Andrine Nilsen, Archaeologist - Rio Göteborg Natur- & Kulturkooperativ, Sweden
- Dr Tomas Nilson, Senior Lecturer in History - Halmstad University, Sweden
- Dr Jonathan Thayer, Queens College - City University of New York, USA
- Dr Kayoko Yukimura, Research Fellow - Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan
- Professor Man Kong Wong, Director of the Academy of Chinese, History, Religion, and Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences - Hong Kong Baptist University
Podcasts
Related research areas
Our work also spans these research areas:
History
We're understanding our society through the study of experiences, culture, values and activities of people throughout history.
Area studies
We're exploring international relations, history, politics, economies, cultures, languages and geography across specific regions.
English literature
We're researching how literature provides insight and understanding into the lives of other individuals, communities and cultures.
Physical and human geography
We're researching physical and human geography and the causes and effects of social and environmental crises, and finding solutions to these problems.
