When air becomes visible
Air pollution has been an issue for centuries, but during the COVID-19 pandemic humanity acutely and simultaneously recognised the physical presence of air. The research project "Air and Environmental Health in the (Post-)COVID-19 World" explores changing perceptions of air.
Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH)
Tatiana Konrad is a member of the Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH), the new multidisciplinary research network within the University of Vienna. It is dedicated to connecting researchers addressing environment, climate, and sustainability from different academic viewpoints. More about the objectives of the network.
Currently, the ECH has 65 members from different faculties and departments of the University of Vienna. All of them carry out research in the field of environment and climate.
Unclean air throughout history
How is the virus understood as a pollutant, among other things, and how does this affect our understanding of air pollution in general? Researchers with backgrounds in the environmental and health humanities, literary and cultural studies and history investigate these questions in the framework of the project. They examine a variety of cultural and literary texts, including novels, graphic novels, films and television series, to analyse the cultural negotiations of unclean air throughout history and the ways in which these visions changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, or contribute to responses to the pandemic. The project focuses on the new meanings of air and its critical contribution to the environmental humanities.
Konrad's main research interests are cultural studies, the environmental and health humanities, American studies, and Anglophone postcolonial studies. She is a member of the new research network Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH).