Thirty-two students from around the world joined the First Annual Aarhus University PhD Summer School in the Environmental Humanities and Media from 10-15 June 2024.

The inaugural course theme, “Transdisciplinary Methods,” offered participants a choice of two different “streams” or focus areas, one on “Media and Aesthetics” and the other on “Reading the Landscape.”

The course, jointly coordinated by the AU Centre for the Environmental Humanities and the AU Environmental Media and Aesthetics research program, featured keynote lectures from renowned scholars Anna Tsing (Anthropology, Aarhus and University of California, Santa Cruz) and Celia Lury (Cultural Studies, University of Warwick), alongside field explorations and a film screening at Kunsthal Aarhus.

The course was supported by the AU Faculty of Arts, the School of Culture and Society, and the School of Culture and Communication. Professors Jussi Parikka (Digital Design and Information Studies) and Heather Swanson (Anthropology, CEH) led the effort, while AU postdocs May Ee Wong (Media Studies), Paolo Patelli (Media Studies) and Zachary Caple (Archaeology) co-led many of the activities.

Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback, we have already set 9-13 June 2025 as the tentative dates for the next iteration of the course. More info will be announced in October 2024 on ceh.au.dk. along with other channels.