Every year we welcome several visiting scholars and other academic staff. Some come to teach in courses or in other ways collaborate with us, others come mainly to do their own research. One thing they all have in common is that they become a big part of the the EHL and the Division.
James Dunk
James Dunkis a Research Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney, where he is part of the ARC Discovery Project Planetary Health Histories: Developing Concepts. A historian and interdisciplinary researcher, his research, teaching and writing explores how concepts and technologies of self are changing in the face of planetary crises, with particular interest in mental health and planetary health. He co-directs the Ecological Emotions Research Lab with Paul Rhodes, and in 2022 he and Rhodes were Collaborative Fellows at the Sydney Environment Institute.
His award-winning first book, Bedlam at BotanyBay, focused on the political and social apparatus which emerged around madness in the penal colony of New South Wales, a place constituted by dramatic and often forced relocation. His recent work turns to experiences of similarly dramatic change in the environment itself, finding expression in eco-anxiety solastalgia, and other ecological emotions, related to ecosystem collapse, climate change, and other disruptions in earth systems. His research on planetary health, mental health and ecological distress has been published in various international journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Sustainability, History of Psychology, Australian Psychologist and Rethinking History, and his literary reviews and essays appear in various places.
During his visit with the KTH Division of Science, Technology and Environment James will present his research on planetary mental health and participate in a conversation about the intersection of global health and global environmental governance, and explore possible collaborations around planetary health with Environmental Humanities Laboratory researchers.
