Graduate Student Directory

Summary of Expertise

Justine is a PhD student in History of Consciousness who studies literature, politics, and ecological thought. Drawing on her training in German and environmental literatures, her master's thesis developed a literary-ecological reading of Hannah Arendt and Theodor W. Adorno. Her doctoral research examines histories and practices of ecological thought and knowledge-making, particularly in the Māori and Oceanic contexts. Prior to starting her graduate studies at UCSC, she taught history, philosophy, and literature for four years at a philosophy-based high school in Los Angeles, CA. Following Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing, who suggest we must "stay with the trouble" or learn how to "live in the ruins," Justine aspires in her research, teaching, and written work to model an embodied politics of care to meet this challenge.

Research Interests

German literature & philosophy; political theory; intellectual history; critical theory; politics & aesthetics; ecological thought; indigenous studies; environmental/oceanic humanities; feminist science studies

Biography, Education and Training

M.A. Comparative Literature, University of Oregon, 2017

B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies (Literature & Politics), UC Berkeley, 2012

Honors, Awards and Grants

UCHRI Working Group (Coastal Ecologies) (2022-2023)

Cota-Robles Fellow, UC Santa Cruz (2021- )

Beall Fellow, University of Oregon (2015-17)

Villard Scholar, University of Oregon (2015-17)

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow, UC Berkeley (2011)

Selected Publications

"Love the Killjoy." In Millennial Feminism at Work, edited by Jane Juffer. New York, Cornell University Press, Nov 2021.

"Upcycling." In In, From & With: Exploring Collaborative Survival, preface by Anna Tsing, edited by Grace Denis. Berlin, Circadian Books, March 2021.

"On the Meaning of Home in a More-than-Human World." In Lady Science, 24 Nov 2020. 

"Of Abortions, Miscarriages, and Would-Be Mothers." In Lady Science, 10 Dec 2019. 

"Fecundity." In Environmental Humanities, vol. 9, no. 2, 2017.

"Narrative, Speech and Action: Gandhi's Satyagraha and the Constant Becoming of Truth." Berkeley Undergraduate Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2012.

"Narratives and the Social Imagination: Lessons in Reading for Gandhi's Theory of Action. Presented at Summer Undergraduate Research Conference on August 23, 2011. Published in Berkeley Undergraduate Research Journal, vol. 24, no. 2, 2011.

Teaching Interests

political & intellectual history; literature and philosophy; speculative fictions; environmental thought