I am an anthropologist and urban researcher. I received my PhD in Ethnology from the University of West Bohemia in 2013 and am currently a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. My research combines ethnography with social network analysis, participatory visual methods, and GPS-based mobility tracking to examine how poverty and inequality, built and natural environments, and art and design intersect in contemporary cities. More recently, my work focuses on macromurals—large-scale participatory murals in popular territories—as both objects of governance and instruments of ecological negotiation. This research analyses how aesthetic practices mediate relations between communities, environments, and institutions, and how art becomes a site where politics, ecology, and urban policy converge. Previously, I have held visiting and fellowship positions at Columbia University (Fulbright–Masaryk Fellowship), Central European University (Junior Core Fellowship), and Harvard University (Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie Global Research Fellowship), among others.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Senior Researcher
2017 – present: Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague
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Associate Lecturer
2023: Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
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Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Research Fellow
2021 – 2024: Georg-Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin
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Assistant Professor
2014 – 2019: Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove (part time)
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Postdoctoral Fellow
2013 – 2016: Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague
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Associate Lecturer
2013: Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove
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Associate Lecturer
2013: Department of Social Sciences, University of Pardubice, Pardubice
Research Assistant
2012: Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague
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EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Ethnology
2008 – 2013: Department of Anthropology, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
Mgr. (M.A.) in Social and Cultural Anthropology
2006 – 2008: Department of Anthropology and History, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
Bc. (B.A.) in Social and Cultural Anthropology
2003 – 2006: Department of Anthropology and History, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
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FELLOWSHIPS
Visiting Scholar (Weatherhead Scholars Program)
2021 – 2022: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Cambridge
sponsor: Prof. Diane E. Davis
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Junior Core Fellow
2020 – 2021: Institute for Advanced Study, Central European University, Budapest
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Visiting Research Fellow
2019: Department of Sociology, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá
sponsor: Dr. Oscar Javier Maldonado Castaneda
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Fulbright-Masaryk Fellow
2017 – 2018: Department of Sociology, Columbia University in the City of New York
sponsor: Prof. Saskia Sassen
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TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Graduate
2013: Methodology of Social Sciences, Department of Social Sciences, University of Pardubice (Czech)
Undergraduate
2023: Urban Sociology, Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of West Bohemian (Czech)
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2018: Qualitative Methodology, Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove (Czech)
2016 – 2017: Sociology of Post-socialism, Department of Sociology, University of Hard Kralove (English)
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2013 – 2016: Qualitative Methodology, Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove (Czech)
2015: Urban Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove (Czech language)
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2015: Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove (Czech)
2015: Readings of Current Sociological Papers, Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove (Czech)
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2014: Research Activities, Department of Sociology, University of Hradec Kralove (Czech)
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FUNDING AND AWARDS RECEIVED (COMMON PRICES)
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship ($289,700)
2021 – 2024: European Commission, Research Executive Agency (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020)
Junior Core Fellowship ($18,200)
2020/2021: Institute for Advanced Study, Central European University, Budapest
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Visiting Research Fellowship ($3,500)
2019: Universidad del Rosario, Bogota
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Otto Wichterle Award ($13,600)
2018: Czech Academy of Sciences
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Fulbright-Masaryk Fellowship ($36,500)
2017/2018: Fulbright Commission Czech Republic
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Postdoctoral Support for Internal Resources ($41,600)
2015 – 2016: Czech Academy of Sciences
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Research project ($137,500; PI)
2015 – 2017: Czech Science Foundation, project: Time and Space of Homeless Persons in a Post-Socialistic City: A Comparison of Prague and Pilsen (GA15-17540S)
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Research project ($1150; PI)
2012: University of West Bohemia, project: Phenomenon of homelessness in the post-socialistic Czech Republic
Research project ($7700; co-investigator)
2011: financed by University of West Bohemia, project: Criminalizing the Poor in Czech Republic: Media, Marginalized Agents and Strategies of Penal State (SGS-2011-074, PI: Marek Jakoubek)
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Research project ($12800; co-investigator)
2010: University of West Bohemia, project: Social Networks and Strategy of Homeless within Urban Space (SGS-2010-023, PI: Ladislav Tousek)
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Jan Hus Foundation Scholarship ($3,000)
2013: Jan Hus Educational Foundation, Czech Republic
Talent Scholarship ($500)
2012: Motivation grant, University of West Bohemia
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Freemover Scholarship ($750)
2011: University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
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Research project ($1000; individual researcher)
2009: Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, project: Homelessness in Micro/macro Perspective
Talent Scholarship ($500)
2008: Motivation Grant University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
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