Julie Deschepper is an Assistant Professor in Heritage and Museum Studies in the Cultural History section of Utrecht University. 

Trained as a cultural and art historian of (Post-)Soviet Russia, in the broad field of heritage studies, and as a museum curator, I specialise in the material culture of socialism. This education between research and practice of heritage is a core feature of my academic practice, reflected in my research, collaborations, teaching and outreach activities.

Research Profile. My research is driven by the desire to critically explore the uses of the past and its materiality, with a focus on contested heritage and a strong interest in transcultural connections. I hold a PhD from the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco, Paris), winner of the Inalco Best PhD Prize 2019. Based on my dissertation, my first monograph Le patrimoine soviétique. Une histoire matérielle de la Russie de 1917 à nos jours is forthcoming with CNRS Edition. Exploring (de-)heritagization processes of Soviet monuments, the book writes a cultural history of Russia through its material culture and contributes to the knowledge of heritage beyond the Western world. 

I have recently co-edited the collective volume Time and Material Culture. Rethinking Soviet Temporalities (Routledge, 2024). Besides, my work has appeared or is forthcoming in international peer reviewed journals (International Journal of Heritage Studies, Aspasia, RECEO, 20&21, Parlement, Le Mouvement Social) and in book chapters (Bloomsbury Academic, Routledge, University of Toronto Press, Palgrave Macmillan) - among others. 

My current research explores the weaponization of heritage during the Russo-Ukrainain war in Ukraine. More broadly, the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine has disrupted my work as an academic, leading to important ethical, epistemological, and methodological reflections. I have since then strived to contribute to the current debates in our field, and modified my research and teaching practices integrating new questions, sources, readings, vocabularies and approaches. For these reasons, I co-founded in 2023 the European Research Collective on Contemporary Russia for the Study of its New Trajectories (CORUSCANT) and in 2026 the Network for Eastern European and Eurasian Studies at UU (NEESUU). 

Background and international network. Prior to joining Utrecht University, I was the Scientific Assistant of the Director and a Postdoctoral Research Collaborator at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz at the Max-Planck-Institute and a Max Weber Fellowship at the History Department of the European University Institute. I was also a visiting fellow at the Villa Medici (Rome) and the GWZO (Leipzig). I also have an extensive teaching experience: I have been Adjunct Professor at the University of Bologna within the MA Applied Critical Archaeology and Heritage, a Research and Teaching Assistant at the Russian Studies Department of Inalco, and a Junior Lecturer at the University Paris VIII. At UU, I am also an active member of the Heritage and Memory Network and Utrecht Forum for Memory Studies.

Work in Museums. From 2011 to 2014, I was a curatorial assistant at Musée national d'art moderne (Centre Pompidou) and Musée Jean Moulin. and exhibition producer in Paris Musées. 

Outreach activities. 

In 2017, I co-curated the exhibition based on my PhD dissertation titled “La naissance d’un patrimoine soviétique en France. Une archéologie du pavillon de l’URSS de l’Expo 37”, co-curated with François Gentili.