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Exposure: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Breath, Air and Atmospheres (Conference Panel, Durham University, 5 July 2016)

posted on March 13, 2025

Research Summary: Interdisciplinary Conference Panel on Breath, Air and Atmospheres

Event Type: Academic conference panel convened by Durham University researchers
Primary Focus Areas: Cultural, historical, and phenomenological dimensions of breath, air, and atmospheric exposure across disciplines
Date & Location: 5 July 2016, 9am–4pm, Durham University (ASA16 Conference)
Key Themes Addressed: Respiratory health, respiratory practices, materiality of breath, epidemiological perspectives on air pollution, and political ecology of breathing
Disciplinary Scope: Anthropology, philosophy, medical humanities, archaeology, environmental studies, and material culture studies
Contributing Institutions: Universities from UK, Europe, and South Africa including Durham, Oxford, Aberdeen, Berlin, Aarhus, Venice, and Cape Town
Scholarly Approach: Integrates phenomenological inquiry with critical anthropological frameworks examining breath as embodied, cultural, and environmental phenomenon

Durham team members Rebecca Oxley and Andrew Russell will be convening a panel exploring the cultural, historical and phenomenological significance of breath, air, and atmospheres at the Association for Social Anthropology’s 2016 conference on Tuesday July 5th from 9am – 4pm.

Presentations include:

  • Making breath visible – Jane Macnaughton (Durham University)
  • Breath and rhythm in the experience of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – Rebecca Oxley (Durham University)
  • The Phenomenological Concept of Respiratory Essence of Human Existence – Petri Berndtson (University of Jyväskylä)
  • Reaching Higher and Looping Forward: Exploring Prāṇāyāma as a Skilled Being in the World – Krzysztof Bierski (Freie Univ. Berlin)
  • BREATH WORKS: Alternative respiratory practices in a critical anthropological perspective – Anne Line Dalsgård (Aarhus University), Aja Smith (University of Southern Denmark), Amalie Juelsgaard, Kasper Pape Helligsøe
  • Breathing with materials: an aerial perspective on ‘thinking-through-making’ artefacts – Valeria Lembo (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)
  • Breath-Body-Self – Sara Matchett (University of Cape Town)
  • A living archaeology of song: Tracing vibrational qualities of breath on its pathways through the singer – Caroline Gatt (University of Aberdeen)
  • The anxiety of ‘blowing’: on belief, knowledge, and precarity in Beninois brass instrument practice – Lyndsey Marie Hoh (University of Oxford)
  • The Devon County Mental Hospital (DCMH): ‘good air’ incarnate – Nicole Baur
  • Articulating Exposure: visualising air pollution and ‘health’ in epidemiological data practices – Emma Garnett
  • Towards a political ecology of air and breathing? A Polish encounter – Irma Allen (KTH, Royal Institute of Technology)

Read more about these presentations here.

To attend you must register for ‘ASA16 – Footprints and futures: the time of anthropology’. To find out more about the conference and register visit their website.

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Filed Under: Conferences

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