[WiSe 2025/26] SE Toxic Legacies: Waste, Water, and Infrastructures of Containment

Hameeteman, Elizabeth
LV-Nr.: 3131 L 316
BA-KulT WTG 3, 4
BA-KulT FW 14, 15
MA-TGWT WTG 3, 4
MA-TGWT FW 11, 12, 14 

SE                               Toxic Legacies: Waste, Water, and Infrastructures of Containment 

Blockseminar
Mo. 10-12 Uhr
Termine: 13.10., 20.10. + 27.10.2025
Sa. ganztags
Termine: 01.11., 08.11. + 15.11.2025
Raum: H 2051
Anmeldung über ISIS
Beginn: 13.10.2025

This seminar explores the environmental, political, and epistemological dimensions of toxic heritage and waste legacies in postwar and contemporary societies. Anchored in environmental history and the history of technology, it focuses on large-scale water systems (especially dams), hazardous waste, and technologies of recycling and containment. Students will explore how societies understand, manage, and narrate toxicity—and how these processes shape infrastructure, policy, and environmental justice over time. Combining theoretical discussions, archival inquiry, and site-based learning, the seminar encourages critical reflection on what it means to live with toxic pasts and contested infrastructures.

Depending on participants’ interest, we will also work on a “Collaborative Archive – Living with Waste: A Toxic Heritage Collection”:

Students have the opportunity to contribute to a collective digital archive documenting toxic sites, infrastructures, and legacies. Outputs can include short texts, annotated maps, oral histories, photo essays, or speculative designs. Selected contributions will be curated into a small digital exhibition in the final session.