Dr Edward Christie

Dr Edward Christie

Research and Engagement Fellow

Researcher profile

Email
esc21@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

Biography

I am a Research and Engagement Fellow and Lead of the 'Culture' cluster at the St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities (StACCS), which generates new understandings of sustainability through collaborative and transdisciplinary research, focusing on perspectives from the arts, humanities, and social sciences. As StACCS’s sole full-time member of staff, I play an integral role in the strategic development and day-to-day operation of the Centre, working to expand our research portfolio, foster new institutional partnerships, and facilitate public engagement activities. My recent involvements have included co-leading the ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Futures for Scotland’ project, a policy- and public-facing initiative which brought together twenty-one collaborators across six organisations. As a result of this initiative, I represent the University of St Andrews on the Fife Community Climate Action Network's (FCCAN) Policy Circle.

Previously, I was an Associate Lecturer in the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews, and I received my PhD from UCL in November 2023 with a cross-disciplinary thesis titled ‘Mobilising Post-War Eco Art History Against the Climate Crisis’ (supervised by Prof. Robert Mills and Prof. Mark Maslin). During my doctoral studies, I contributed to various interdisciplinary research initiatives, for example I worked as Project Coordinator to help establish UCL Anthropocene – a network that brings together researchers from across disciplines to articulate and address the problems that the Anthropocene poses for our collective future. Among other contributions, I hosted a lecture series titled 'Cultural Ecology: Galvanising Climate Action Across the Arts' that addressed how cultural researchers might effectively respond to the inadequacy of the solutions to climate change generally being set into motion by governments and corporations. Other collaborations included my role as Co-Chair of the Environment-Domain Early-Career Network (EDEN) and work as a Research Assistant on an initiative tited 'The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Contributions from the Humanities'.

Teaching

During my previous role as an Associate Lecturer in the School of Art History, I taught various postgraduate and undergraduate modules including 'Art History and Envrionmental Crisis' (Honours), 'Approaches to Art History' (co-taught with Dr Catherine Spencer) (Honours), and 'Object Lessons in Photography' (co-taught with Dr Marika Knowles and Dr Luke Gartlan) (MLitt). I received a Golden Dandelion Award for my 'Art History and Environmental Crisis' course, which recognises 'excellence in education for sustainable development'.

Research areas

My research explores the intersection of modern and contemporary art history with critical sustainabilities scholarship. I am especially interested in advancing culture-led approaches to addressing current social and environmental challenges, and in mobilising art-historical research through inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations to inform government, industry, and public debate. Much of my scholarship has addressed the intersectional connections between environmentalism and diverse forms of social activism including feminism, anti-racism, Indigenism, LGBTQIA+ rights, and anarchism. My other areas of interest include (post-)extractivism, greenwashing, and planetary health.

Selected publications

 

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