User:Sudmathur/Genevieve Guenther

Dr. Genevieve Guenther is a professor, scholar, and climate activist, who currently serves as affiliate faculty at The New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center. In 2018, she founded End Climate Science, a volunteer organization aiming to improve media coverage of climate change. Her work focuses on how to improve communication of the climate crisis, after initially beginning her career as a literary scholar.

Personal and professional life
Guenther is originally from New York City, though she lived in Denmark when she was younger. She received her bachelors degree in English literature from Columbia University, before receiving her Ph.D. in Renaissance literature from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004. Across numerous interviews, she attributes her climate activism directly to worrying for her son. She was selected as an expert reviewer for the Sixth Assessment Report, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Guenther is also active on Twitter, especially for her work through End Climate Silence.

Major works
Guenther has published one book, Magical Imaginations: Instrumental Aesthetics in the English Renaissance, and has written many articles on the topic of climate change communication. She is also currently working on a book, to be titled “The Language of Climate Politics”.

=== Magical Imaginations: Instrumental Aesthetics in the English Renaissance === Guenther’s book investigates the literary role of magic as a concept during the English Renaissance. It examines how magic is discussed through a variety of texts - religious, political, literary, etc.

Chapters

 * Conjuration and The Defense of Poesy
 * The Demonology of Spenserian Discipline
 * Why Devils Came When Faustus Called Them
 * The End of Magic: Instrumental Aesthetics in The Tempest
 * Epilogue: Kant’s Charm

=== Communicating the climate emergency: imagination, emotion, action === This article from Guenther discusses the strategies that can be employed by those trying to communicate the climate crisis. It investigates emotions of fear, outrage, and desire. It also suggests motivating listeners to take political actions towards creating change, as opposed to positing that climate solutions are purely technological. Guenther also argues for framing the climate fight as one against the powerful individuals who are refusing to change their practices.

=== Voters want to see more climate coverage in the media === This article from Guenther, written for Data For Progress, discusses polling data from Americans with different partisan identities on their perceptions and beliefs regarding media coverage of climate change. The piece concludes that a majority of voters - across the entire political spectrum - would like to know if climate change is exacerbating the impacts of extreme weather events.