VAN Members

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Eva Horn

The Anthropocene poses entirely new challenges both for the humanities and for an interdisciplinary dialogue. We have charted the territory of this dialogue in The Anthropocene. Key Issues for the Humanities (2020). How can we conceive of the 'anthropos' of the Anthropocene? When did the anthropogenic transformation of the Earth begin? What are the ethical and political issues raised by planetary environmental change? As a cultural historian and literary scholar, I am specifically interested in the aesthetics of the Anthropocene and in the genealogy of Anthropocene thought. I am reconstructing the rich and diverse tradition of thinking about the planetary and the relation between earth history and human history in philosophy, fiction, historiography, and the arts.

Keywords: Aesthetics of the Anthropocene, Narrative, Processes of Scaling, Climate Change, Climate and Culture

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Head of Vienna Anthropocene Network

Department of German Studies
Universitätsring 1
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-42128
E-Mail: eva.horn@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Wagreich

The Anthropocene, coined by the natural sciences, opens discussions in a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary way. In that, it fosters interdisciplinary research and reunites more and more specialized scientific disciplines and defines a space for transdisciplinary projects involving both natural sciences and humanities. For the geosciences the definition of the Anthropocene poses the main challenge within the framework of stratigraphy, the science of the dating and documentation of geological archives. The Anthropocene thus finds its place in Earth history, but also gives a symbol word for today’s anthropogenic changes of the Earth system as a whole.

Keywords: Geosciences, Anthropocene Starting Dates, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy

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Deputy Head of Vienna Anthropocene Network

Department of Geology
Althanstraße 14 (UZA II)
1090 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-53465
E-Mail: michael.wagreich@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrich Brand

My research focuses on the political, economic and cultural conditions that impede sustainability transformations - I call this the "imperial mode of living". This mode of living - that is also a mode of production - is deeply inscribed into societal institutions and norms and led to what is called the Anthropocene. This notion is related to other concepts like planetary boundaries, the Great Acceleration or Limits to Growth. I am interested in political-economic and cultural initiatives that take seriously the challenges posed by the strong metaphor of the Anthropocene, i.e. initiatives towards a "Green Economy", United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, actors like trade unions or social movements.

Keywords: International Environmental and Resource Politics, Imperial Mode of Living, Socio-Ecological Transformation, Critical Social Theory, Latin America 

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Department of Political Sciences, International Politics
Neues Institutsgebäude
Universitätsstr. 7/2, 1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-49452
E-Mail: ulrich.brand@univie.ac.at

PD Dr. Erich Draganits

The Anthropocene debate started as an academic discussion in stratigraphy and very soon became a tantalizing focal point for different scientific fields investigating its various aspects. I am dealing with the Anthropocene from a geoarchaeological point of view, using this interdisciplinary approach to study human-environmental interaction in the past. How can we document and quantify this interaction? What are the cultural, regional, climatic, technological variables to induce and adapt to changes in the past? My research tries to learn from the past for the future.

Keywords: Climate Change, Environment, Geoarchaeology, Responsibility, Stratigraphy, Sustainability 

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Department of Geology - Sedimentology
Althanstraße 14
1090 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-53415
E-Mail: erich.draganits@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Anna Echterhölter

Thinking on a planetary scale seems to be one last resort scientific and especially historical disciplines turn to in face of the Anthropocene. But what does such reckoning entail? Within the history of science, scales are first and foremost investigated as means of quantification. They belong to the infrastructure of measurement systems, standards, cadastral surveying, monetary order, and threshold values. These formalizations span the globe as a unique governance structure, backed by international law. Recently dynamic climate modelling, resource planning, and data management became central tasks. But how and under which circumstances does this data collection emerge as a global endeavor? Does the long term guarantee responsible calculation? What level of complexity is desirable? How do we construct units that hold a balance between environmental claims and social stakes? How can the economic consensus on cheap nature be overcome? How do dynamic models reflect human and non-human needs alike?

Keywords: History of Quantification, History of Resource Statistics, Standards and Data, Energy and Performance Measurement, Scales and Long Term Thinking, Epistemology of Planning, Historical Epistemology, Technosphere

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Department of History
Universitätsring 1
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-40865
E-Mail: anna.echterhoelter@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrike Felt

Keywords: Science Communication, Governance, Knowledge Production, Socio-technical Infrastructures, Environment, Plastics

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Department of Science and Technology Studies
Universitätsstraße 7 (NIG Stiege II, 6. Stock)
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-49611
E-Mail: ulrike.felt@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Glade

As a geomorphologist and a natural hazard and risk researcher, my research focuses on Earth surface dynamics and its consequences. These dynamics are directly and indirectly determined by natural and anthropogenic forces. The build-up materials, forms and operating processes are mapped, monitored and modelled including the related anthropogenic domains. The connectivity between nature and humans is of major interest and will be one of the most important challenges in the future – in particular within the global change debate.

Keywords: Geomorphology, Natural Hazards and Risks, Human Impact, Global Change

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Department of Geography and Regional Research
Universitätsstraße 7 
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277 48650
E-Mail: thomas.glade@univie.ac.at

Ass.-Prof. Dr. Nils Robert Güttler

Keywords: History of Environmental Sciences, Natural History, Infrastructures, Media History, History of Ideas

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Department of History
Universitätsring 1
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-40815
E-Mail: nils.guettler@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thilo Hofmann

Aquatic and terrestrial processes control the Earth’s environment. They are, however, massively impacted by human activities. Chemical, physical, biological, and geoscientific concepts and methods are needed to for a molecular scale mechanistic understanding and quantitative modelling of anthropogenic environmental processes. The overall goal is to understand processes controlling the environmental systems and to apply fundamental insights to the solution of some of the pressing environmental problems of today and tomorrow.

Keywords: Pollution Dynamics, Environmental Nanotechnology, Remediation of Pollutants, Aquatic Geochemistry 

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Department of Environmental Geosciences
Althanstraße 14 (UZA II)
1090 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-53320
E-Mail: thilo.hofmann@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Jursa

The Anthropocene discussion frames processes of transformation in the interaction between society and the environment within a global historical context. It therefore illuminates the Ancient Near Eastern documentation I am familiar with by situating it in a broader conceptual framework. This facilitates interacting with a whole series of disciplines that otherwise hardly enter into dialogue with my field.

Keywords: Near Eastern History and Archaeology, Human-Environment Interactions, Philology

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Department of Oriental Studies
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 4 (Campus)
1090 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-43413
E-Mail: michael.jursa@univie.ac.at

Sebastian P. Klinger, M.Phil. PhD

People all over the world have been thinking about conditions of planetary habitability for centuries, but the Anthropocene radically unsettles these traditional bodies of knowledge: in the wake of anthropogenic global warming, the ongoing sixth mass extinction, and other disconcerting developments, we can no longer take for granted the conditions that make most parts of the earth habitable for humans and non-humans alike. In what ways does the Anthropocene impact our understanding of planetary habitability? As a literary scholar and cultural theorist, I am not only exploring various relevant strands in literary writing and the history of science, but I am also specifically interested in what my discipline can contribute to addressing the climate crisis more generally. My overarching objective is to develop a cultural theory of planetary habitability.

Keywords: Theories of Habitability, Literature and Media in the Anthropocene, History of the Environmental Sciences

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Department of German Studies
Universitätsring 1
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-42295
E-Mail: sebastian.paul.klinger@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christian Köberl

The Anthropocene as a possible geological era is a topic of current interest that is intensely debated. Traditionally geological periods are defined in retrospect through their content, this would be different in the present case. As a geoscientist who works mainly on the interface of extraterrestrial and terrestrial geological processes, such as meteorite impacts that have punctuated the biological and geological evolution of the Earth, I look at the long-term geological record and how these studies tell us something about the present-day and future development of the planet Earth.

Keywords: Impact Research, Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry, Planetary Geology, Meteorites

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Department of Lithospheric Research
Althanstrasse 14
1090 Vienna

Former Director General of the Natural History Museum Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-53110
E-Mail: christian.koeberl@univie.ac.at

Dr. Isabel Kranz

As a literary scholar, I investigate the contribution of plants to our theoretical and poetical registers. Plants provide the condition for the possibility of life on Earth, and many of our essential energy resources besides oxygen and sugar are also plant-based (e.g. petrofuels and methane). This foundational presence of plants is reflected in language, such as the very term “culture,” which refers to the cultivation of soil through the tending of plants. How does a re-evaluation of the contribution of plants to human language and thought help us to rethink the Anthropos? Can we adopt a vegetative perspective through poetic and rhetorical devices, and where does human language fail in view of more-than-human agency? To what extent can we bridge the nature/culture divide through a process of continuous translation of terminology and concepts between and across different scientific disciplines?

Keywords: Literary and Cultural Plant Studies, Poetics, Rhetoric, Media, More-than-human Agency, Translation

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Department of German Studies
Universitätsring 1
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-42190
E-Mail: isabel.kranz@univie.ac.at

MMag. Kira Lappé, MSc

The Anthropocene symbolises the impact of humans on the Earth system. This impact is visible in most cases, such as the increase of sealed surface or effects as recurrent weather extremes. Yet, the human influence is not restricted to the Earth's surface – humans have equally reached into the ground, building subsurface infrastructure and cumulating anthropogenic sediments. In the project 'The Anthropocene Surge', my research interest is on making this hidden layer experienceable and measureable, showing the growing impact by humans over the past centuries. As an archaeologist and geoinformation scientist, my current research work focuses on creating a 3D model of the anthropogenic sediments underlying Vienna – making the invisible visible.

Keywords: Anthropogenic Sediments, Human Impact over Time, Visualisation and Modelling

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Department of Geology
Althanstraße 14 (UZA II)
1090 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-40577
E-Mail: kira.lappe@univie.ac.at

Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Marta Luciani

The Anthropocene highlights to an unprecedented degree the role of human actors in earth, environmental and archaeological sciences. While the investigation of the changing human-environment relationship belongs to the core focuses of archaeological research, the Anthropocene discussion entails a potential of revolutionizing long-held definitions of and traditional approaches to chronology, geomorphology, stratigraphy and human behaviour. In my current field research in and on the Arabian desert and arid areas of the Near East, I am interested in understanding the methodological relevance of the Anthropocene and its possible impact on accepted paradigms in archeology as discipline and in understanding events such as aridization as anthropogenic and/or global phenomena.

Keywords: Archaeology, Geomorphology, Historical Geography, Near East, Stratigraphy

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Department of Near Eastern Studies
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 4 (Campus)
1090 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-43451
E-Mail: marta.luciani@univie.ac.at

Dr. Ronald Pöppl

The 'Anthropocene' debate should be perceived as a great opportunity for strenghtening the interdisciplinary dialogue to better cope with challenges arising from highly dynamic human-environmental interactions. I am currently working on human impacts on landscape dynamics, focusing on fluvial systems and soil erosion processes. Furthermore, I am involved in/leading projects and working groups using the concept of connectivity as a unifying framework in the fields of geomorphology, environmental sciences and human-landscape interaction research.

Keywords: Connectivity, Geomorphology, Human Impact, Human-Environment Interactions

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Department of Geography and Regional Research
Universitätsstraße 7
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43 - (0)1 - 4277 48653
E-Mail: ronald.poeppl@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Procházka

Keywords: Middle East, Religion, Popular Culture, Arabic linguistics

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Department of Oriental Studies
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 4 (Campus)
1090 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-43422
E-Mail: stephan.prochazka@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Patrick Sakdapolrak

The notion of the Anthropocene points to a new era in human-environmental relations, especially to the great transformation of many Earth systems that has accelerated since the industrial revolution. This transformation challenges the status quo and poses the question how sustainable development pathways can be realised. The impacts of this transformation are unevenly distributed and already put lives and livelihoods of people around the world at risk. My research interests lie at the interface between population dynamics and changing human-environment relations. I particularly focus on the role of migration and mobility for coping and adaptation to environmental change, and on the question how translocal connectedness can facilitate sustainable transformation.

Keywords: Migration, Displacement, Translocality, Human-Environmental Relations, Climate Change, South-East Asia and East Africa, Environmental and Climate Mobilities Network

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Department of Geography and Regional Research
Universitätsstraße 7
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-48730
E-Mail: patrick.sakdapolrak@univie.ac.at

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Peter Schweitzer

The notion of the Anthropocene helps us to go beyond the specific environmental concerns society and academia are facing at any given time, be they climate change, plastic pollution or ocean acidification. It also reminds us of the responsibility humanity carries for the fate of planet Earth. However, neither the destructive capacity nor the ability to mitigate are equally distributed around the globe or within a society. The academic study of the Anthropocene is an inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary field that goes beyond the ‘anthropos’ of the Anthropocene (and of anthropology) to explore the social, cultural, political and more-than-human entanglements of a crowded world with deep inequalities regarding the means to satisfy seemingly unlimited needs. My current research is focused on built and natural environments in the Arctic, where climate change, militarization and the scramble for energy resources interact to demonstrate how the Anthropocene affects remote regions of the world. 

Keywords: Anthropology, Arctic, Climate Change, Infrastructure, Human-Environment Interactions

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Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Universitätsstraße 7
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-495 37
E-Mail: peter.schweitzer@univie.ac.at

Dr. Vera Thomann, MA

Keywords: German Literature, Literary Theory, Poetics of Knowledge, Diagrammatics

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Department of German Studies
Universitätsring 1
1010 Vienna

E-Mail: vera.thomann@univie.ac.at

Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Alice B. M. Vadrot

Different social groups and actors attribute different meanings to the term "Anthropocene", which is why I would argue that social scientists should consider and study the historical, social and political context within which the term is interpreted and used. While geologists designate a specific geological period to be anthropogenic to make sense of data that indicates the far-reaching human influence on our planet, Fridays-for-Future activists may refer to the term to underpin the necessity for societal change. As such, the Anthropocene is related to meaning making processes, diverse value systems and norms. It can be an object of political struggle over the legitimate way to represent our world and is thus an excellent case for studying the interrelations between science, politics and society, which is my main research interest.

Keywords: Social Sciences, Value Systems, Maripoldata (Marine Biodiversity, Monitoring Practices, Conservation Policies)

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Department of Political Science
Ferstelgasse 5
1010 Vienna

Tel: +43-1-4277-849465
E-Mail: alice.vadrot@univie.ac.at