Michelle's research interests include European and British nineteenth-century art, Scottish art, national identity, Modern Spiritualism, Occulture and the Celtic Revival.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
M. Foot, 'A Portrayal of Life Beyond Death: Helen Duncan's Spirit Guide and His Portrait', Death in Scotland: Chapters from the Twelfth to the Twenty-First Centuries, eds. H. Grainger & P.C. Jupp (Peter Lang, 2019). Chapter.
[Forthcoming] M. Foot, 'Listening to the Voices: Joan of Arc as a Spirit-Medium in the Celtic Revival', FNG Research (early 2020). Article.
[In preparation] M. Foot, Modern Spiritualism and Scottish Art, 1860-1940 (Bloomsbury Academic). Monograph.
Conference Papers & Public Talks
• Conference paper: 'There Is No Death' - Themes of Christian-Spiritualism in Scottish Art. Invited speaker for the 'Beyond the Borders' conference, Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, University of Aberdeen. November 2019.
• Public lecture: Nineteenth-Century Spirit Art. Invited speaker for the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, Edinburgh. October 2019.
• Conference organising committee: 'Victorian Renewals', British Association of Victorian Studies annual conference, Dundee. August 2019.
• Conference paper: Psychical Engagements with Scotland's Romantic Landscape, Visions, Voices and Altered States conference, European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, University of Amsterdam. July 2019.
• Public lecture: Jane Stewart Smith - Spiritualist and Artist. Invited speaker for the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, Edinburgh. June 2019.
• Conference paper: The Visual Culture of Christian-Spiritualism in Scotland, Approaching Esotericism and Mysticism: Cultural Influences conference, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. June 2019.
• Session co-convener with Dr Lucy Weir: Occult Performances and Reflections: The Everyday Occult in Visual Culture, Association for Art History annual conference, Brighton. April 2019.
• Research seminar paper: The Celtic Revival and Modern Spiritualism: Fairies, Witches and Haunted Landscapes. Student-nominated speaker for History of Art Research Seminar; Invited speaker for School of Celtic and Scottish Studies Research Seminar, University of Edinburgh. February 2019.
• Conference paper: Painting the Vision Splendid: Depicting the Truths of Modern Spiritualism, International Society for Religion, Literature and Culture biennial conference, University of Uppsala, Sweden. September 2018.
• Public lecture: Modern Spiritualism and Scottish Art. Invited speaker for the Friends & Members lecture at the National Galleries of Scotland. May 2018.
• Session co-convener: Seeing and Hearing the Beyond: Art, Music and Mysticism in the Long Nineteenth Century, Association for Art History annual conference, Courtauld Institute of Art and King’s College London. April 2018.
• Conference paper: Dawn of Peace: A Vision for Spiritualism. Invited Speaker for Visionary Artists Visionary Objects Research Network, University of Manchester. February 2018.
• Conference paper: The Witch as a Spirit-Medium in Scotland’s Celtic Revival. 'Cultural Mythologies Around 1900' conference organised by the European Revivals Research Project, National Galleries of Scotland. December 2017.
• Conference paper: Painting with the Spirits: Modern Spiritualism in Scotland and its Visual Culture. Invited speaker for 'The Occult in and Beyond Victorian Scotland' symposium, Scottish Centre for Victorian Studies, University of Stirling. October 2017.
• Public lecture: The Artist and The Paintings: John Duncan’s 'Ivory, Apes & Peacocks' and 'Anima Celtica'. Pitmedden House, Aberdeenshire, National Trust for Scotland. May 2017.
• Conference paper: Celtic Spiritualism and John Duncan's Riders of the Sidhe, Association for Art History annual conference, University of Edinburgh. April 2016.
• Conference paper: Modern Spiritualist Magazines: Promoting Spirit Paintings and Spirit Artists in Glasgow 1866-1907, Life and Death in the Nineteenth-Century Press conference, Research Society for Victorian Periodicals, University of Ghent, Belgium. July 2015.
• Conference paper: Through the Veil: Modern Spiritualism and Sculpture, Mourning and Morbidity: Death and British Art workshop, British Art Research School, University of York. March 2015.