CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES

An interdisciplinary research space focused on humanistic environmental inquiry.

We define the environmental humanities as the study of how human cultures and nonhuman natures overlap, how environmental risks intersect with social justice issues, and how humanistic knowledges help us better understand environmental problems.
Scientists, policymakers, and the public recognize that addressing global environmental problems requires not just technical expertise, but shifts in public and political will inspired by cultural change. The Center for Environmental Humanities (CEH) focuses on the role culture and communications has on environmental change: providing historical and political context about environmental challenges, personalizing its impact through stories, art, music, and media, and offering hope and inspiration for imagining other futures.
The CEH is housed in DENIN and led by a Faculty Steering Committee comprised of:

AWARDS

Spring EcoWriters Prize

Founded in Spring 2025, the Eco-Writers Prize recognizes UD graduate students for excellent scholarly writing in the environmental humanities. Research eligible for this award could be taking place in a number of departments ranging across the humanities, arts, and humanistic social sciences, likely taking an interdisciplinary approach.
First Place (Tie): Genevieve Westerby (PhD Candidate, Art History) – “Impressionism and Extraction Ecologies on the Seine”
First Place (Tie): Caitlin Salomon (PhD Student, English) – “From Climate Crisis to Climate Chaos? Reframing Social Panic in Disaster Narratives”
Third Place: Emaline Reyes (PhD Student, Sociology) – “Treacherous Terrain: Creative Approaches to Studying Childbirth in Disaster”
A student stands at a podium and discusses her work

EVENTS

  • April 25: DENIN Environmental Research Symposium with keynote speaker Dr. Joshua Moses (Haverford)
  • April 16: Home Grown Café Fundraiser
  • April 15: “Subaltern Seasons” Guest Lecture by Dr. Sarah Dimick (Northwestern) on her new book, Unseasonable
A crowd standing near a bar chats over drinks and food