Stuart Kirsch

Stuart Kirsch is the Roy A. Rappaport Collegiate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on environmental anthropology, climate change, corporate accountability, and indigenous rights. He has held visiting appointments at institutions such as the University of Cambridge, Yale, and École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris.

Education: PhD in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania (1991).

Research Interests:

• Postcarbon transition (concrete production, mangrove conservation)
• Engaged anthropology with indigenous communities
• Legal and corporate responses to environmental disasters
• Indigenous land rights in Melanesia, Amazonia, and the Caribbean

Awards: Recipient of the Berlin Prize (2023), UM Faculty Recognition Award (2018), and multiple fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, and others.

Teaching and Mentorship: Co-convenes the ethnography lab for dissertation writers. Teaches courses on the Anthropocene, climate change, and the anthropology of property. Mentors doctoral students researching global issues from Sierra Leone to Peru.

Consulting Work: Advises on indigenous rights cases, including the Nuclear Claims Tribunal in the Marshall Islands and Inter-American human rights courts. Serves as an expert witness in environmental litigation.

Current Projects: Supported by the NOMIS Foundation, studying decarbonization challenges and carbon sequestration strategies.