Dr Cristina Prytz

Who am I?

My research touches on social, cultural and economic history. I am currently working with an EC funded project; "House and home: physical and emotional comfort in the country house, England and Sweden c. 1680-1820". This Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship explores an important episode in the historical development of the cultural and social norms connected to physical comfort and emotional well-being. The 18th century was a time when the wealthy, at least, had access to a growing range of goods, commodities and technologies, and were becoming increasingly aware of their individual identity. The research focuses on the changing relationship between physical and emotional comfort in the context of the country house, and explores a number of key questions about how the desire for comfort related to gender and life course, and to material objects and the growing specialisation of domestic spaces; how it was perceived through different senses and how it was juxtaposed with feelings of discomfort; and how it was conceived and experienced in two contrasting countries within Europe.

Previously I have worked at Uppsala University, Sweden, on the Gender and Work Project (http://gaw.hist.uu.se). This is a digital indexing project and research unit aimed at recovering and interpreting information about gender and work in Early Modern Sweden from a wide variety of legal and other manuscript sources. It aims ultimately to make this information available to scholars in a searchable online database. As a member of this project I have focused my research toward unmarried men and women, especially servants and their work during the early modern period.

My thesis focused on the relationship between the Swedish crown and the families in its service during the 17th century, in particular the use of lands and fiefdoms as rewards and remunerations. These formed part of an ancien regime of obligations which involved men, women and whole families. As this broke down in the early 18th century, the family, and especially wives and daughters, lost status.

I have also worked for almost 15 years in the heritage sector before (re-)entering the academy. As curator, I was responsible for: care of the collection; planning and producing exhibitions; education and public information. I also performed landscape analysis and made environmental impact assessments using historical sources and geometrical cadastral maps. (www.nordiskamuseet.se)

Academic and professional qualifications

13/04/2013 PhD. Faculty of Arts/ Department of History, Uppsala University/ Sweden

02/06/2005 Master. Faculty of Arts/ Department of History, Uppsala University/ Sweden

Previous employment

20/05/2013 – 31/12/2014, Researcher Faculty of Arts/ Department of History, Uppsala University/ Sweden "Less than ideal? Making a living before and outside marriage"

01/03/2007-08/05/2013, PhD student Faculty of Arts/ Department of History, Uppsala University/ Sweden

01/01/2004 – 28/02/2007, Consultant Södermanlands hembygdsförbund. This organization brings together and offers education, information and support for local historical associations. My main roles centred on planning and implementing courses and seminars.

01/09/1993 – 31/12/2003, Curator Nordic museum at Julita manor. This is Sweden’s largest open-air museum. During my time there, I co-curated an exhibition on Swedish agrarian material culture and another on food and drink, customs and traditions pertaining to meals at the museum. I also performed landscape analysis and made environmental impact assessments using historical sources and geometrical cadastral maps. (www.nordiskamuseet.se)

Languages

Mother tongue Swedish, more or less fluent in English, working knowledge of German, reading French, Dutch, Danish and Norwegian and can read scientific text in the areas of my interest. I have also studied Russian and Latin.