About
Alison Kenner is an associate professor in the Department of Politics, with a joint appointment in the Center for Science, Technology and Society. Professor Kenner's research is concerned with human-environment relations in late industrialism, particularly how people inhabit their homes, think about and experience environments, and work to create change in the world. Working in the traditions of experimental and collaborative ethnography, Kenner’s research tacks between political economy, everyday life, and the infrastructures that underpin both. Her first book, Breathtaking: Asthma Care in a Time of Climate Change (University of Minnesota Press, 2018), documents how care is materialized at different scales — from medication use to mobile phone apps and environmental policy – to address the U.S. asthma epidemic.
Kenner’s latest research, The Energy Rights Project, investigates energy vulnerability in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, and looks at how organizations and government policies enable affordable access to water, electricity, and heating fuel. This project is funded by a National Science Foundation standard grant through the Science and Technology Studies Program.
Kenner’s teaching focuses on the politics of science, technology, and energy in society, and she offers courses on climate change, feminist political theory, and the politics of environmental health. Her courses are organized using feminist pedagogy, peer collaboration, and project-based learning.