Dr. María Isabel Rojas López

María Isabel Rojas received her Bachelor’s degree in History and her Master’s degree in Art History from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). As part of her Masters degree, she spent one semester at the Kunsthistorisches Institut-Freie Universität-Berlin researching political symbolism in architecture, using the example of Berlin-Alexanderplatz. She obtained a Ph.D. degree in Art History from the Humboldt Universität-Berlin with a dissertation about the city image of Berlin after German Reunification. In her research she analysed a variety of visual materials produced by the city government, the tourism sector and local urban movements, aiming to address urban and social issues linked to the construction of memory and identity. This project was financially supported by the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD).

Since September 2017, Dr. Rojas is a postdoctoral fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Institut-Universität Zürich under Prof. Dr. Tristan Weddigen. Her project, financed by a Bundes-Exzellenz-Stipendium, analyses the representation of Swiss landscape in contemporary political posters and advertising in connection with the construction of national identities. In parallel, she collaborates with the Global Research Index of Political Iconography (GRIPI), an international project building a global image database in cooperation with partner projects at the universities in Mexico City, London, and Hamburg.

Areas of Research Interest

Political Iconography; Architecture and Urbanism; History and Representation of the City; Visual Studies; Landscape; Bildwissenschaft.

Publications

• Berlin: Dream and Awakening. A Collection of Images of the German Capital after Reunification. Dissertation. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin/ Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/18073
• “Berlin: Representing Urban Change in Postcards, City Advertising, and Social Media”. In International Journal of the Image, Vol 7, Issue 4, December 2016, p. 57-70.
• “Berlín–Alexanderplatz. Proyectos de reconstrucción en la capital alemana a partir de la Reunificación” in Mitteilungen der Carl Justi Vereinigung 21./22. Jhg. 2009/2010, pp. 199-202.
• Berlin-Alexanderplatz : proyectos de reconstrucción en la nueva capital alemana a partir de la reunificación. Master Thesis. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México/ Postgrado en Historia del Arte, 2008. http://132.248.9.195/ptd2009/enero/0638304/Index.html

Grants

• 2017-2018: Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Zurich,  Bundes-Exzellenz-Stipendium/ Eidgenössische Stipendienkommission für ausländische Studierende (ESKAS).
• 2010-2015: Promotion Stipendiatin at the Humboldt Universität-Berlin/Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD).
• 2008: Research stay at the Kunsthistorisches Institut-Freie Universität-Berlin, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Harrold Hammer-Schenk. Supported by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
• 2006-2008: Master Scholarship at the Postgraduate Program of Art History/ Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.