Shannon McMullen received a PhD in sociology from the University of California, San Diego in 2007. Her dissertation entitled Post-Industrial Nature and Culture in the Ruhr District, Germany, 1989-1999 considers an extreme example of how a rust belt region came back to vitality when its political and cultural elites jointly invented a new kind of aesthetic based on the material and "natural" legacy of more than a century of coal mining and steel production.

Based on her fieldwork experience in the Ruhr District of Germany and dissertation writing, Shannon has also developed an interest in art practice that engages and shapes the experience of urban spaces. She draws on her training in sociology and is influenced by landscape architecture and interactive art. Her artworks have been featured in exhibitions in Canada, Germany, South Korea and the USA.

Her current research interests include the role of artists and community members in redefining the relationships between nature and culture in postindustrial places, culture-led urban regeneration and electronic and time-based art in public space.

Photo on top of page by John Terhume/Journal & Courier

2009 Purdue University Electronic and Time-Based Arts