Peder Anker
Professor
pja7@nyu.edu
(212) 998-7389
1 Wash Pl, Room 425
Office Hours
Monday By Appt
Tuesday By Appt
Wednesday By Appt and 12-2
Thursday By Appt
Friday By Appt
B.A., Philosophy, University of Oslo, 1990
M.A., Philosophy, University of Oslo, 1993
M.A., History of Science, Harvard University, 1998
Ph.D., History of Science, Harvard University, 1999
Peder Anker’s teaching and research interests lie in the history of science, ecology, environmentalism and design, as well as environmental philosophy. He holds a PhD in History of Science from Harvard University, and has received research fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the Dibner Institute, and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. He has also been a visiting professor at Columbia University and University of Oslo. He is the author of Imperial Ecology: Environmental Order in the British Empire, 1895-1945 (Harvard University Press, 2001), which investigates the entangled relationship between colonialism, racism and the science of ecology in the British Empire. He is also the author of From Bauhaus to Eco-House: A History of Ecological Design (Louisiana State University Press, 2010), which explores the intersection of architecture and ecological science, and he is a co-author of Global Design: Elsewhere Envisioned (Prestel, 2014), together with Louise Harpman and Mitchell Joachim. Professor Anker’s The Power of the Periphery: How Norway Became an Environmental Pioneer for the World (Cambridge University Press, 2020) explores the history of ecological debates in his country of birth, Norway. His latest book in Norwegian, Livet er best ute: Friluftslivets historie og filosofi (Kagge Forlag, 2022), celebrates the simple joy of being outside. You may follow Professor Anker at his web page https://www.pederanker.com/ or on Twitter @pederanker.
Books
2020
Peder Anker's The Power of the Periphery: How Norway Became an Environmental Pioneer for the World was published by Cambridge University Press.
2017
Mitchell Joachim and Peder Anker's School of the Earth: Gallatin Reimagined 2061 was published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
2014
Peder Anker, Louise Harpman, and Mitchell Joachim's Global Design: Elsewhere Envisioned was published by Prestel.
2010
Peder Anker's From Bauhaus to Ecohouse: A History of Ecological Design was published by The Lousiana State University Press.
Grants & Fellowships
2020
Peder Anker was awarded an Abu Dhabi Washington Sqaure North Faculty Fellowship for Spring 2020.
Awards & Honors
2019
Peder Anker is the winner of the American Scandinavian Society's Crystal Award for Cultural Achievement.
Performances, Productions, Exhibitions & Releases
2019
Peder Anker and Mitchell Joachim’s research and collaborative work was displayed at the Global Design NYU Berlin exhibition titled Berlin Collapse: Climate, Cities and Culture in Berlin, Germany from July 6-11, 2019.
Teaching and Research Interests
history of science environmental affairs ecology and sustainable design
Recent News
AWARDS AND HONORS
In 2019, Peder Anker was awarded The American Scandinavian Society’s Crystal Award for Cultural Achievement. Anker was the recipient of the Abu Dhabi 19 Washington Square North Faculty Fellowship for the Spring 2020.
EXHIBITIONS
The 2019 COLLAPSE: CLIMATE, CITIES, and CULTURE Exhibition, which was held at NYU Berlin and from June 6-July 11, 2019, focused on the design/artist community’s response to environmental urgency, using architectural models, design prototypes, drawing, and art to frame and advance this vitally important conversation. The exhibition contrasted examples of design from central Europe to show efforts to find solutions for our current state of planetary peril. The practices and projects selected for this exhibition came from different disciplines and operate at multiple scales, in a range of forms--constructed works, materials and systems research, community development, and speculation. These diverse projects were joined by their shared focus on improving the health and well-being of our fragile planet and all of its occupants.
PUBLICATIONS
With Terreform ONE, Mitchel Joachim, and Nicholas Gervasi, Anker published “Deep Impact: Animal-, Plant- or Insect-Aided Design as techniques to mitigate stress on urban non-human species in Topos Magazine's September 2020 issue.
The Power of the Periphery: How Norway Became an Environmental Pioneer for the World was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.
Anker contributed the chapter “Computing Environmental Design” to Computer Architectures: Constructing the Common Ground, 1945-1980, edited by Theodora Vardouli and Olga Touloumi and published by Routledge in 2019.
CONFERENCES AND TALKS
Anker delivered the talk "The Power of the Periphery" at The National Library of Norway (April 2021), the Department of History, University of Bergen (February 2021), the Department of Philosophy, NTNU Trondheim (February 2021), The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (January 2021), The Greenhouse, University of Stavanger (November 2020), and History of Science Society’s Annual Meeting (October 2020), and the Institute of Public Knowledge, New York University (October 2020).
Anker was invited to “A High Mountain Utopia: History of Ecology” held by the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Conference at the Finse Research Station in Oslo, Norway, from July 7-12, 2019.
Anker was invited to “British Imperialism and the Bauhaus Legacy” held at the Center of Literature at the Burg Hülshoff in Münster, Germany, on February 15, 2019.
Courses
2023 Spring
2022 Spring
2022 Fall
First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar: Walking New York
History of Environmental Sciences
History of European Environmental Sciences
2021 Spring
2021 Fall
