Biography
Magdalena Novoa’s work focuses on the intersections of historic preservation and social justice, the politics of cultural heritage and memory, grassroots organizing, and alternative planning approaches in the Americas. She is particularly interested in how cultural heritage and planning principles are mobilized by various actors to integrate or segregate historically marginalized groups, as well as the challenges that arise from the deindustrialization and the changing landscapes of cities. Dr. Novoa combines ethnographic, archival, participatory, and arts-based methods to understand the tensions between local knowledges and formal heritage and planning approaches and their implications in citizenship constructions. Through her engaged scholarship in Chile, she has investigated the role of memory and gender in placemaking and insurgent planning and assisted communities in making their places, narratives, and actions more visible in policy, practice, and research.
A native from Chile, her interest in historic preservation and cultural heritage as a resource for community development has been a sustained topic of her academic and professional experience. Prior to coming to the United States, Dr. Novoa worked in the National Monuments Council of Chile as head of the Education and Participation department, facilitating education and participatory processes in national and world heritage sites. Before that, she worked in the Sorrel Foundation and Open City Foundation in the UK, leading participatory design and planning processes and action research to involve youth in designing and planning their environments. She continues to connect research to practice by partnering with community organizations and NGOs, including her ongoing collaboration with Aldea in Chile and her role in co-leading OH! Stgo (Santiago, Chile), the largest urban festival in the country, giving free public access to 100+ buildings and spaces, walks, talks, and tours showcasing best urban practices over one weekend each year.
Research Interests
Alternative planning approaches, insurgency, citizenship, and social justice; pluriversal planning scholarship; insurgent heritage and the role of affects in planning; gender and deindustrialization; place-based ethics of care; the role of the arts in community development and grassroots practices; decolonial approaches to research and situated methodologies.
Education
Magdalena Novoa received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She also holds a M.A. in Arts and Cultural Management from the London School of Communication, a B.A. in Fine Arts from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and a B.A. in Education from Universidad Gabriela Mistral.
Additional Campus Affiliations
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Highlighted Publications
Novoa, M. 2021. Gendered nostalgia: Grassroots heritage tourism and deindustrialization in Lota, Chile. Journal of Heritage Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2020.1867561
Vasudevan, R. and Novoa, M. 2021. Pluriversal Planning Scholarship: Embracing Multiplicity and Situated Knowledges in Community-Based Approaches. Planning Theory. https://doi-org.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/10.1177/14730952211000384
Novoa, M. 2019. Turning Power Upside Down: Historic Preservation and Grassroots Organizations in Valparaíso, Chile. Platform, Fall 2019, 23-28.
Novoa, M. (2018). Insurgency, heritage and the working class: the case of the Theatre of Union No6 of the Coal Miners of Lota, Chile. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 24:4, 354-377. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2017.1378904
Novoa, M. (2018). “Chile and the Declaration of Amsterdam: Challenges for World Heritage Sites” in Forty Years of the Declaration of Amsterdam: Reflections on the Past, Present and Future of Integrated Conservation. Penna, K., Tinoco, J., Lapa, T. (eds.). Olinda: Centre for Advanced Studies in Integrated Conservation of Brazil.
Recent Publications
Novoa, M. 2021. Gendered nostalgia: Grassroots heritage tourism and deindustrialization in Lota, Chile. Journal of Heritage Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2020.1867561
Vasudevan, R. and Novoa, M. 2021. Pluriversal Planning Scholarship: Embracing Multiplicity and Situated Knowledges in Community-Based Approaches. Planning Theory. https://doi-org.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/10.1177/14730952211000384