(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: An Assistant Professor at QF partner Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), Dr. Trish Kahle recently concluded a six-month National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship conducting archival research at a leading affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Hagley Museum and Library.
Her investigation into the human stories behind power system development in the United States is resulting in important contributions to the body of knowledge on energy and society.
Energy humanities, an emerging field that examines the intersections of energy, culture, society, and the environment, is at the heart of Dr. Kahle's research, which illuminates the intricate connections between energy choices, consumption patterns, and broader social implications.
By highlighting people whose contributions to energy systems have been overlooked, Dr. Kahle's soon-to-be published findings will spark fresh dialogue and debate on the role of energy on human development and for a sustainable future.
“Energy systems reflect choices,” explains Dr. Kahle,“so while certain patterns of development can appear 'locked in,' I think it is important to understand our agency in the energy system's past and reclaim our role in shaping its future.”
Dr. Kahle explores this concept in a forthcoming article on“Electric Discipline: Gendering Power and Defining Work in Electric Power Systems,” appearing in the academic journal Labor: Studies in Working-Class History. The article, which was developed through research at the Hagley Museum and Library archives, uncovers how energy conservation initiatives in the 1970s shaped labor and gender roles, pushing women to substitute their own labor to conserve the energy of their home appliances.
“Most histories of electricity in the US are histories of inventors, engineers, and managers. But hundreds of thousands of ordinary people have worked on the country's grid, and shaped what it looks like,” said Dr. Kahle.“I think by learning to see the grid's human history, which we have often unconsciously learned to overlook, we can have a more grounded conversation about what it would take to overhaul our electric power system, to organize it with justice in mind.”
Dr. Kahle stressed that the biggest challenge facing electric power systems is the question of decarbonization and building climate resilient infrastructure.“I hope my work gives people new tools to learn to look at the energy system around us with a new perspective, and to ask new questions about why it looks the way it does, and how we want it to look in the future.”
Dr. Kahle's future projects include an examination of the impact of racism on the development of the US power system, and the history of electric power systems from the perspective of the workers who contributed to their construction and operation.
In the upcoming fall semester, Dr. Kahle will be teaching courses on energy humanities, and she currently co-leads the Energy Humanities Research Initiative in collaboration with the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS). Dr. Kahle is also a contributor to the Global Energy Cultures Forum, a collaboration between CIRS and Northwestern Qatar.