The Centre for Environmental Humanities is delighted to welcome Professor Gisela Heffes to deliver the annual lecture for 2022-23.
Professor Heffes will address the convergence of toxic matters and matters of toxicity at the intersections of space, time, politics and affect through three material paradigms, which are defined, in turn, by three distinct conceptual frames. Professor Heffes will argue that these three figures catalyse an aesthetics of toxicity grounded in discourses on exposure, environmental (in)justice, bodily experiences, and material entanglements.
Refreshments will be available after the event.
Professor Heffes is a writer and a Professor of Latin American Literature and Culture at Rice University. Whilst in Bristo her work will be based on her ongoing project, titled “Toxic Matters and Matters of Toxicity in Latin America.” The project explores the intersections of toxicity and space, time, politics and affect in Latin America through an analysis of literary fiction, poetry, visual art, and other media. It pays close attention to the flow of material contamination and pollution through organic and inorganic bodies, vernacular landscapes, and artworks with a particular focus on the unequal distribution of toxins as they travel through the enmeshed territories of material and discursive worlds, natural and cultural practices, biological, textual, and visual spheres.
You can read more about Professor Heffes on her IRP web profile page here.