Abandoned aircraft in a forest seen from above

Promoting the Environmental Humanities

The Environmental Humanities is a growing research area at the University of Liverpool and one of the five research themes of the interdisciplinary, cross-faculty Liverpool Centre for Health, Art, Society and Environment (CHASE).

Environmental Humanities research in CHASE seeks to explore the complex inter-relationships between societies and environments, in the past, present and future. 

Areas of particular interest include climate change, the intersection between health and environment, the Anthropocene, human-animal relations, energy, and environmental justice. Our research in this area brings together scholars, theories, and methods from across the humanities, social and natural sciences.

CHASE collaborates with other interdisciplinary initiatives at the University of Liverpool including the Literature and Science Hub and the Connecting Human-Animal Interaction Research (CHAIR) group,  as well as partners in Merseyside and beyond including Tate Liverpool, Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. You can also download the Sniffing the Past smart phone app, to discover how dogs have shaped London, New York, and Paris through interactive maps. The theme is currently lead by Dr Chris Pearson (History), Dr Sam Solnick (English) and Dr Heather Sangster (Geography and Planning).

Recent work in the Environmental Humanities include:

  • The implications of natural disasters, climate variability, extreme and mundane weather on societies
  • Representations of climate change and the Anthropocene in the arts and culture
  • Perceptions of healthy and unhealthy environments
  • The influence of environmental factors and animals on human health
  • The management of environments and animals to ensure better health outcomes
  • Fears and perceptions of zoonotic diseases including COVID-19
  • Caring for animals and environments
  • One Health/One Medicine
  • Environmental Histories

Researchers within this theme will be launching an environmental humanities reading group in autumn 2020. If you are interested in being involved, please email Chris or Sam.

We also support applications in the Environmental Humanities to doctoral and postdoctoral schemes including AHRC, ESRC, Leverhulme, the British Academy, and Wellcome Trust, and we are developing MA teaching provision in environmental humanities.

Back to: Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences