Faculty Fellow

Clinical Professor, Liberal Studies

The Dead Horse History of the Beginning of the End

Robin Nagle’s research considers the category of material culture known generically as “garbage.” She is interested in the many forms of labor and infrastructure that waste requires: the spatial demands it imposes, the organizational responses it inspires, the cultural practices and attitudes that adhere to it. Her most recent book, Picking Up, explores the complex history of waste management, reveals what it takes to be a sanitation worker, and makes clear why that labor is essential to the daily and long-term well-being of any city. Nagle is a clinical professor in Liberal Studies and in the Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement program in GSAS; she teaches discard studies, environmental studies, urban studies, anthropology, and oral history. She is also anthropologist-in-residence with New York City’s Department of Sanitation.