Biography
Research interests
I am an interdisciplinary researcher specialising in irrigation customs and community water governance in the Peruvian Andes, with specialist expertise in the Huarochir铆 province of Lima. I am particularly interested in the following topics in relation to the Andean region:
- ritual management of water
- customary law
- ritual functions of khipus ('quipus')
- local texts
- twentieth century nation-building, social change and linguistic transformation
- indigenous/ancestral ontologies of landscape
- Andean ontologies of the body
My area of expertise also includes the early colonial Quechua Huarochir铆 Manuscript.
Outputs
Book: The Entablo Manuscript: Water Rituals and Khipu-Boards of San Pedro de Casta, Peru. University of Texas Press. 2023.
My research is published in peer-reviewed journals, including Anthropological Linguistics, RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, Latin American Research Review and Indiana. I have also written peer-reviewed book chapters in English and Spanish. My publications include articles for research-focussed media outlets, including Sapiens magazine and Latin America Bureau.
Previous roles at the University of 58吃瓜
In 2021, I took up a post as Research Fellow of the 58吃瓜 Network for Climate, Energy, Environment and Sustainability ().
In 2022, I took up a further role as Research Fellow in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, working on a UKRI-funded project exploring climate change in northern Peru; led by Prof Nina Laurie.
Between 2017 and 2021, I worked on a Leverhulme Trust-funded research project on quipus (khipus; Andean cord notation) in the Department of Social Anthropology.
Research background:
In 2016, I completed an interdisciplinary Latin American Sudies PhD at Newcastle University. My research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council explored irrigation rituals and customary law in Huarochir铆, home to the Quechua Huarochir铆 Manuscript of c.1608. The thesis also explored indigenous legislation at the international and national level (in Peru), problematising the criteria for Prior Consultation Law. Since groups from Huarochir铆 define themselves as Spanish-speaking and non-indigenous, according to the Peruvian State criteria they could not be conferred the right to prior consultation at the time of writing.
My research draws from insights into Peruvian society gained through twenty-four years of extended stays in the country, including over a decade of ethnographic fieldwork trips in Huarochir铆.
Leadership work
I served as Director of the Centre for Amerindian, Latin American and Caribbean Studies in 2018/2019 during the centre's 50th anniversary year. I ran a regular seminar series in addition to a series of anniversary-focussed events including the centre's first interdisciplinary networking event. I also built and launched a new centre website.
In 2017, I co-founded the Early Career Women's Network at 58吃瓜 University and co-led the network until 2020.
Research areas
Profile
In 2024, I joined the Global Research Centre for Diverse Intelligences as Coordinator, based at the University of 58吃瓜. I am passionate about collaboration, innovation and making research accessible.
Values
I am passionate about disability inclusion, research ethics and integrity and I serve as a member of the University of 58吃瓜 Working Group on Recognising Contributions to Research.
More generally, I am enthusiastic about contributing positively to a supportive, diverse and fair research environment.
Selected publications
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Open access
Gilgan, S., Bennison, S. & Pels Ferra, L., 24 May 2026, Rethinking sustainability : Principles and practice. Brown, A. & Gilgan, S. (eds.). 1st ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 585-614
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter
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Open access
Dalton, J. & Bennison, S., 24 Nov 2025, In: Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics. 84, 1, p. 60-78
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
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Bennison, S., 10 Aug 2025, Figshare, 12 p.
Research output: Working paper 鈥� Preprint
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Bennison, S., 28 Mar 2024, Sobre la vida de los antiguos hombres de este pueblo llamado Huarochir铆: voces, seres y lugares del Manuscrito. Rubina, C. & Zanelli, C. (eds.). Lima: Fondo Editorial PUCP, p. 205-227 23 p. (Colecci贸n Estudios andinos; vol. 34).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter
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Dalton, J. & Bennison, S., 5 Jul 2023, Sapiens, Online.
Research output: Contribution to specialist publication 鈥� Article
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Dalton, J. & Bennison, S., 5 Sept 2023, Sapiens, Online.
Research output: Contribution to specialist publication 鈥� Article
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Bennison, S., 26 Sept 2023, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. 252 p. (William & Bettye Nowlin series in art, history, and culture of the Western Hemisphere)
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Book
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Open access
Bennison, S., 30 Jun 2022, In: Indiana. 39, 1, p. 201-223
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
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Open access
Bennison, S., 5 Oct 2022, The social and political life of Latin American infrastructure. Alderman, J. & Goodwin, G. (eds.). London: University of London Press, p. 223-251 30 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding 鈥� Chapter
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Open access
Hyland, S., Bennison, S. & Hyland, W. P., 15 Jun 2021, In: Latin American Research Review. 56, 2, p. 400-416 17 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review