Biography
I am a Research and Engagement Fellow at the .
With my background in ecocritical art history, I aim to foster the potential for engagement with the arts and culture to instigate more effective and holistic responses to climate change. Much of my research has addressed the intersectional connections between environmentalism and diverse forms of social politics including feminism, anti-racism, Indigenism, LGBTQIA+ rights, and anarchism. My other areas of interest include greenwashing and the relationship between sustainability and health.
Previously, I was an Associate Lecturer in the School of Art History at 58吃瓜, where I developed research and taught a range of postgraduate and undergraduate courses on modern and contemporary art. I completed my PhD at UCL, where I was involved with several research initiatives that centred on sustainability. For instance, I worked as Project Coordinator to help establish UCL Anthropocene 鈥� a network that brings together researchers from across disciplines to articulate and address the problems that the Anthropocene poses for our collective future. Among other contributions, I hosted a lecture series titled that addressed how cultural researchers might effectively respond to the inadequacy of the solutions to climate change generally being set into motion by governments and corporations. Other collaborations included my role as Co-Chair of the and work as a Research Assistant on an initiative tited .
Teaching
During my previous role as an Associate Lecturer in the School of Art History, I taught various postgraduate and undergraduate modules including 'Art History and Envrionmental Crisis' (Honours), 'Approaches to Art History' (co-taught with Dr Catherine Spencer) (Honours), and 'Object Lessons in Photography' (co-taught with Dr Marika Knowles and Dr Luke Gartlan) (MLitt). I received a Golden Dandelion Award for my 'Art History and Environmental Crisis' course, which recognises 'excellence in education for sustainable development'.
Research areas
I am currently working on two main research projects. The first, 'The Art of Oil: Modernism and the Rise of the Petroleum Industry', investigates the relationship between the development of the oil sector and modernist aesthetics. The second, 'Land Art and the Politics of Reclamation', critically explores the widespread commissioning of Land artworks by extractivist industries to fulfil their legal requirements to restore exploited landscapes.
These projects have developed from my PhD research, which I completed in November 2023. My thesis, which is titled , critically revises established narratives on post-war art and the environment in light of the recent proliferation of discourse on the so-called 'Anthropocene' 鈥� a term that controversially refers to the present geological epoch in which humans are profoundly impacting the Earth's planetary conditions due to our mass combustion of fossil fuels. Challenging the conventional conception of nature as being divided from culture, each chapter explores the intersection of environmentalism with diverse forms of social politics through the lenses of works by the following artists: Agnes Denes (feminism), Rasheed Araeen (anti-racism), Juan Downey (Indigenism), Derek Jarman (LGBTQIA+ rights), and the Ky奴sh奴-ha (anarchism).
Selected publications
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Christie, E., 21 Feb 2026.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper 鈥� peer-review
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Helmcke, C., Hooker, S., Roney-Dougal, C., Skrzypek, E., Reid, L., Wishart, L. J., Russell, S., High, M., Lawson, I., Cole, L. E. S., Hope, J., Sfrappini, E., Christie, E., Paul, F., Mallows, C., Auxtova, K., Twist, B. & Gregnanin, G., 2026
Research output: Other contribution
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Helmcke, C., Hooker, S., Roney-Dougal, C., Skrzypek, E., Reid, L., Wishart, L. J., Russell, S., High, M., Lawson, I., Cole, L. E. S., Hope, J., Sfrappini, E., Christie, E., Paul, F., Auxtova , K., Gregnanin, G., Twist, B. & Mallows, C., 2026
Research output: Other contribution
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Open access
Helmcke, C., Christie, E., Twist, B., Mallows, C., Roney-Dougal, C., Sfrappini, E., Skrzypek, E., Paul, F., Gregnanin, G., Joubert, G., Lawson, I., Hope, J., Auxtova, K., Reid, L., Wishart, L. J., Cole, L. E. S., High, M., Conlan, P. J., Hooker, S. & Russell, S., 27 Mar 2026, Online: University of 58吃瓜. 11 p.
Research output: Book/Report 鈥� Commissioned report
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Open access
Christie, E., 23 Feb 2026, In: Visual Culture in Britain. 23, 2-3, p. 208-217 10 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article
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Christie, E., 5 Dec 2025.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper 鈥� peer-review
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Christie, E., 22 Oct 2025.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper 鈥� peer-review
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Christie, E., 10 Jun 2025.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper 鈥� peer-review
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Christie, E., 3 Apr 2024.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper 鈥� peer-review
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Christie, E., 22 Feb 2024.
Research output: Contribution to conference 鈥� Paper 鈥� peer-review