Chloe Ahmann

Name and title:

Chloe Ahmann, Assistant Professor, Anthropology

Academic focus:

Environmental anthropology, urban history, United States

Current research project: 

I'm currently writing a book (tentatively) titled “Forgotten in Anticipation: Baltimore After Progress,” about how present-day residents cope with the legacies of deindustrialization on Baltimore's south side. COVID permitting, I'm also gearing up to start a project about how Baltimore's 40,000 vacant homes are being reimagined, in the context of climate-adaptation efforts, as environmental problems. 

Previous positions:

Collegiate Assistant Professor and Harper-Schmidt Fellow, Social Sciences Collegiate Division, University of Chicago, 2018–20

Academic background: 

• Ph.D., Anthropology, George Washington University, 2018
• M.A., Anthropology, George Washington University, 2015
• M.S., Education, Johns Hopkins University, 2012
• B.A., Anthropology, University of Chicago, 2010

Last book read:

“Porkopolis: American Animality, Standardized Life, and the Factory Farm” by Alex Blanchette

In your own time/when not working:

I enjoy jogging, watching movies, and drinking coffee on the porch. Having a porch has been one of the great joys of life in Ithaca so far.

Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:

I'm looking forward to teaching a First-Year Writing Seminar on “time travel" this fall and a course on the anthropology of climate change in the spring. I'm also dreaming about a graduate seminar for next year called "It's the End of the World (As We Know It)," where we'd think about the ecological crisis, evangelical apocalyptic imaginaries, the end of work, and other end-times side by side, while also speculating on how the end of things as we know it might offer openings into life otherwise.

What most excites you about Cornell:

I'm thrilled to be joining a university so committed to interdisciplinary work, especially on environmental issues. After many years living in big cities, I'm also excited to enjoy all the outdoor adventuring that the Finger Lakes region has to offer.