The Oslo School of Environmental Humanities (OSEH) was launched in 2019 at the Faculty of Humanities as an initiative to strengthen research, teaching and international cooperation in the field of the environmental humanities, and to contribute to public and scholarly debates about current climatic and environmental crisis. We welcome everyone with an interest in environmental issues - within and beyond academia - to join our lively community!
Objectives
Research and teaching at OSEH draw upon the unique strengths of the humanities to offer critical insights into the manifold relationships between people and their environments. OSEH aims to play a critical role within the university to address environmental issues and the climate crisis by providing a national and international network of environmental thinkers. At the same time, we aim to play a constructive role, creatively thinking of alternative ways in which humans may relate to the nonhuman natural world. Our aim is to respond creatively and collectively to the enormous environmental and social challenges of our times.
At UiO, we organize activities and events to bring together faculty and students interested in climate change and environmental research. We sponsor workshops, PhD schools, and public lectures, and fund "Collaboratories", where scholars explore new research questions dealing with the complex social and ecological dilemmas of the Anthropocene. OSEH also hosts weekly Environmental Lunchtime Discussions, a popular place (virtual, after Covid-19) where all those interested in current environmental challenges can attend a short presentation by academics, practitioners, activists or artists, followed by a lively Q&A.
OSEH also aims to provide a space for innovative and critical teaching in the Anthropocene. At UiO, we offer the MA Honours Certificate in Environmental Humanities and Sciences (EHS). As a part of this, we have created a multidisciplinary and public lecture series “Welcome to the Anthropocene” and the research course “Knowing Natures”, experimenting with place-based teaching and creative ways of environmental storytelling. Every year, the students in our Certificate present their exciting work as part of the "Knowing Natures Eco-slam". Everyone is invited!
Research
We are open to new approaches and perspectives! Currently, our members are working on issues and in fields such as:
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More-Than-Human Ethnography
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Decolonial and Indigenous Environmentalisms
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Radical Feminist Ecologies
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Speculative Futures
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Extinction Studies
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Deep Time Ecologies
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New Environmental Archeologies
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Museums and Climate Change
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Environmental Musicology
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Anthropogenic Soils
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Socionatural Climate History
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Environmental Histories of Design
Vision and Priorities
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Establish the environmental humanities as an multi-disciplinary field at UiO.
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Facilitate dialogue and collaboration between the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences in the field of climatic and environmental research.
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Strengthen multi-disciplinary and research-based teaching through the Honours Certificate in Environmental Humanities and Sciences (EHS), the first of its kind in Norway.
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Build a network for environmental humanities initiatives in the Nordic countries, and beyond.
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Grow collaborations with scholars and institutions beyond Europe and the US, especially in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
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Respond to the major environmental challenges of our time by contributing experimental and innovative research to the field of critical environmental studies.
Contact us
Oslo School of Environmental Humanities in social media:
Departments
The Oslo School of Environmental Humanities is a collaboration between the following departments at the Faculty of Humanities: