Dr Kamila Oles
Research Fellow
Teaching
Teaching at the University of St Andrews (to 2025)
School of English
Vertically Integrated Programmes (VIP):
Digital Mapping of Intangible Heritage
Designing Physical Exhibitions in 3D Environments and Digital Engagement and Outreach
School of Art History
Designing Physical Exhibitions in 3D Environments and Digital Engagement and Outreach (sessions within the Digital Museum module)
Navigating AI in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM) sector – online certified short course (St Andrews Online)
APA555085 (Charles University in Prague) and CAG-approved (University of St Andrews): Inclusive Community Building through Digital Heritage Preservation in Times of Crisis
AH1001 Art in Europe and Beyond to 1600
AH1003 Art in Europe and Beyond, 1600–1800
Digital Art History Programme: consultation and contributions to modules (e.g. 3D digitisation, digital mapping)
Supervision
Dissertation supervision for students in the School of Computer Science and the School of Art History
Research areas
Kamila is an art historian, archaeologist, and curator specialising in 3D digitisation, advanced digital art history, inclusive and co-curatorial exhibition design, contested memory, art diplomacy, and digital heritage engagement. Her digital work on the Picasso USF project was recognised by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2017) and the Picasso Estate (2022). She has recently co-authored and secured funding from the Leverhulme Trust, AHRC Catalyst, Horizon Europe Heritalise project, and Interface Digital Art Map Glasgow. Her current research focuses on visual language and co-curation of contested memories, working with descendants of African American US Civil War soldiers at Camp Nelson National Monument (Kentucky) while collaborating with National Parks of America Camp Nelson National Monument museum refit and with British descendants of Polish soldiers from the WW2, examining heritage and art as collective and mediated transmitters of memory and inherited trauma.
Kamila works as an immersive on-site and digital exhibition designer and curator, teaching inclusive hybrid exhibition design and applying digitisation and digital methods to co-produce exhibitions with communities. Her projects include the ICOM-FAIMP–awarded Virtual Orkney Northern Isles, the Polish Paratrooper Memory Hall, Footsteps to Freedom, the Camp Nelson Museum refit, and Collective Memories in Fostering Unity with United Nations House Scotland. She has developed user journeys and digital exhibition design for institutions including the Gordon Highlanders Museum, West Highland Museum, Grampian Transport Museum, Timespan Museum, and the Glasgow Green AR app.
She advocates for the transferability of digital scholarship skills across disciplines, demonstrated through her cross-School work in roles including Associate Lecturer in Art History, Engagement Fellow in Inclusive Exhibition Design (School of Medicine & Dundee Science Centre), Research Fellow at Open Virtual Worlds (Computer Science), Research Fellow with the University Museums Group in Scotland (UMIS), and Museum Assistant for databases and 3D digitisation at the Libraries and Museums of the University of St Andrews.
Before joining the University of St Andrews in 2020, Kamila was a Research Associate at the Center for Virtualization and Applied Spatial Technologies (CVAST), at the University of South Florida, U.S. (2016–2018), leading 3D digitisation of art, museum collections, and archaeological sites, and developing 3D research workflows. She was also a Research Fellow at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, Czechia and served as PI on multiple international grants (including IntraVisegrad, CEEPUS, Erasmus+, and government-funded projects). Prior to this, her experience included museum refit work, excavation, research, and collection documentation in museums and archives across Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Czechia. She completed two independent, full five-year Master’s degrees: in Art History (2006–2012) and in Archaeology (2007–2011) and holds dual PhDs from Charles University (Prague) and Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań).
Selected publications
-
Open access
Immersive learning of cerebral visual impairment: understanding vision through dynamic immersive simulations
Cassidy, C. A., Oliver, I., Oles, K., Tracy, H. S. C., Blaikie, A. & Miller, A., 20 Feb 2025, Immersive Learning Research Network: 10th international conference on immersive learning, iLRN 2024, Glasgow, UK, June 10–13, 2024, revised selected papers, part II. Krüger, J. M., Pedrosa, D., Beck, D., Bourguet, M.-L., Dengel, A., Ghannam, R., Miller, A., Peña-Rios, A. & Richter, J. (eds.). Cham: Springer, p. 81–95 15 p. (Communications in computer and information science; vol. 2272).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
-
Open access
Online teaching and learning with digitised collections in higher education contexts, during the Covid-19 pandemic
Eagleton, C., Curtis, N., Economou, M., Oles, K. & Waters, S., 11 Feb 2025, University Museums in Scotland. 108 p.Research output: Book/Report › Other report
-
Open access
AI trends and challenges for the 21st century museum
Oles, K., 14 Oct 2024, ReAImagining public collections: in the light of digital development. Puskás, A. & Tvergyák, K. K. (eds.). Budapest: Hungarian National Museum Public Collections Centre, p. 29-30Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
-
Dora Hitz in Peleș Castle
Kallestrup, S. M., Gutgesell, N., Oproiu, M., Oliver, I. A., Oles, K. & Miller, A. H. D., 3 Sept 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Exhibition
-
Dora Hitz in Peleș Castle, Sinaia
Kallestrup, S. M., Oles, K. (Designer), Oliver, I. A. (Developer) & Miller, A. (Developer), 3 Sept 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Web publication/site
-
Open access
Online teaching and learning with digitised collections in Higher Education contexts, during the Covid-19 pandemic
Eagleton, C., Oles, K., Economou, M., Susannah, W. & Neil, C., 2 Aug 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) University Museums in Scotland, 61 p.Research output: Working paper
-
Open access
Seinn Spioradail: sacred Landscapes of Highland and island communities
Willkins, F., Miller, A. H. D., Oles, K. & Oliver, I. A., 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Exhibition
-
West Highland Museum
Miller, A. H. D., Oliver, I. A. & Oles, K., 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Web publication/site
-
Culture power to inspire development in rural areas: virtual ORKNEY NORTHERN ISLES exhibit platform
Oles, K., 15 Dec 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
-
Enriching museum engagement through knowledge sharing and open-source digital responses to the crisis
Miller, A. H. D., Oles, K. G. & Cassidy, C. A., 23 Aug 2022, The AVICOM sessions during the 26th ICOM general conference in Prague 2022: reports and papers. Online: AVICOMResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution