Tony Johnston 

Tony Johnston
B.A. (HONS) University of Ulster 2003
M. Litt (NUIG) 2005                                                                                         

Room 103, Geography Dept.
Email: tpjohnstongmail.com
Ph: 091-524411 ext 3380

Biography

Tony comes from Inch Island in Co. Donegal and has been studying in the department for several years. His undergraduate studies began with a degree in Business with Entrepreneurship in Magee, University of Ulster, between 2000 and 2003. After studying in Derry, Tony decided to move to Galway to undertake an M.Litt in Geography between October 2003 and August 2005. Upon completing this Tony decided to brave the world of work for a year, but thought better of it very quickly and in October 2006 returned to undertake a Ph.D in the department, studying with Prof Strohmayer.

Tony is greatly interested in urban form and the interrelationship between architecture, urban image and the economic value of aesthetics. For his M.Litt thesis Tony examined the connections between increased spending in Ireland's business parks and the attraction and retention of employees and MNCs.

Tony is also the administrator for the department's website and the auditor of the Geographical Society at NUIG. Please contact directly for any details.

Ph.D Thesis

Thanatourism and the commodification of war tourism space in ex-Yugoslavia

Tony's current research will attempt to situate the fast developing tourism market in ex-Yugoslavia as a space for thrill seeking adventure tourists, the traveller who wishes to differentiate him or herself from others by their destination choice, and those interested in dark tourism sites for reasons of curiosity, guilt or pilgrimage. The thesis will focus on the commodification of space for dark tourism around the Balkans, especially examining Vukovar and Dubrovnik in Croatia, Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgrade in Serbia. Tony's PhD will focus primarily on dark tourism and the creation of a memorialised landscape in ex-Yugoslavia.

Presentations (Past and Upcoming)

•  Tourist Experiences: Meanings, Motivations, Behaviours, University of Central Lancashire, April 2009

"Thanatourism and the Commoditisation of Space in Sarajevo"

•  Association of American Geographers, RTS Specialty Group, Heritage Session, Las Vegas, March 2009

"Visitor Motivations and Tourism Space in Sarajevo"

•  Geography Society, NUI Galway, October 08

"Dark Tourism; A Spectrum of Morbid Curiosity" 

•  Conference of Irish Geographers, Liverpool, May 2008

“Commoditisation of Space in Sarajevo”

•  Association of American Geographers, Boston, April, 2008

“Dark Tourism and Imagery in Sarajevo”

•  Department of Geography Seminar Series, NUI Galway, February 2008

“Thanatourism in Sarajevo, Imagery and Space”

•  The Irish Academy of Management – Innovation and Entrepreneurship Track, GMIT, September 2005

“Ireland’s Business Parks – Do The Aesthetics Really Matter?”

•  Humanities Institute of Ireland; Discursive Spaces, University College Dublin, May 2005

“The Artistic Transformation of Irish Office and Technology Parks”

•  The Conference of Irish Geographers, NUI Galway, May 2005

“The Artistic Transformation of Irish Office and Technology Parks”

•  Department of Geography Seminar Series, NUI Galway, February 2005

"Artwork and landscaping in Ireland's Public & Private Business Parks"

•  Irish Postgrad Training Conference, Glencree, Co. Wicklow, February 2004

“The Architecture of Ireland’s Business Parks”

                                                              ^{Inch Island, Co. Donegal, Summer 2006}