Aesthetics and embodied knowledge

I have a deep interest in the role of aesthetics and embodied knowledge in creating more sustainable and just human-environment relations. This can be traced back to my masters thesis. Under the supervision of Dr. Jim Igoe, my masters work examined the ecological aesthetics of land-use and food production in urban settings. I studied the aesthetics and embodied knowledge of Somali Bantu refugees through the lens of a returned Peace Corps Malawi volunteer. Returning to the US after living in Malawi was a jarring experience for me, especially concerning food, agriculture, and urban land-use. This helped catalyze an exploration into how refugees with a subsistence farming background were experiencing and adapting to US urban landscape (or not), and what US culture could learn from the aesthetics and embodied knowledge of Somali Bantu refugees.

These concerns were carried forward into a broader research effort led by Dr. Jill Litt. This included a number of community-based research projects studying the relationship between community gardens and health. The relationality of aesthetics was found to play a fundamental role in connecting  gardeners to gardens thereby enacting a range of ecological, social, and health benefits.

I aim to continue developing this research stream, especially through studying processes that contribute to the embodiment of more sustainable and just aesthetics and embodied knowledge. For example, I drew on the sociology of emotions literature in my dissertation work on cooperatives and have studied competing aesthetic expectations of farms among urban agriculture collaborations.

Publications related to this research

Hale, James & Michael Carolan. 2018. “Cooperative or Uncooperative Co-operatives?: Digging into the Process of Cooperation in Food and Agriculture Co-operatives.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 8(1):1-20.

Litt, Jill, S. Schmiege, James Hale, Michael Buchenau, & F. Sancar. 2015. “Exploring Ecological, Emotional and Social Levers of Self-rated Health for Urban Gardeners and Non-gardeners: A Path Analysis.” Social Science and Medicine 144:1-8.

Hale, James, Corrie Knapp, Lisa Bardwell, Michael Buchenau, J. Marshall, F. Sancar, & Jill Litt. 2011. “Connecting Food Environments and Health Through the Relational Nature of Aesthetics: Gaining Insight Through the Community Gardening Experience.” Social Science and Medicine 72:1853-1863.

Litt, Jill, M. Soobader, M. Turbin, James Hale, Michael Buchenau, J. Marshall. 2011 “Socio-Environmental Influences on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: Understanding the Role of Social Involvement, Neighborhood Aesthetics and Community Garden Participation.” The American Journal of Public Health 101(8):1466-1473.

Hale, James. 2008 "The Aesthetics of Land-use and Food Production Among Somali Bantu Refugees: A Personal Account." University of Colorado, MSS Thesis.