The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress is pleased to announce the appointment of Dana R. Fisher as Distinguished Visiting Scholar. Fisher will begin her time in residence in May, 2022. At the Kluge Center, she will work on the book project “Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action,” set to be published by Columbia University Press. Fisher plans to make use of the Library’s collections that relate to the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps in researching and writing the book.
Fisher is a Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Maryland and the President-Elect of the Eastern Sociological Society. Her research focuses on questions related to democracy, civic engagement, activism, and climate politics — most recently studying political elites’ responses to climate change, the emergent US Civilian Climate Corps, and activism around climate, systemic racism, and the American Resistance.
Professor Fisher has authored more than seventy research papers and book chapters and has written six books. She served as a Contributing Author for Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Review (IPCC AR6) writing about citizen engagement and civic activism. In 2021-22, she is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Governance Studies program at The Brookings Institution. Her media appearances include CNN, MSNBC, PBS NewsHour, and various programs on NPR. Her words have appeared in the popular media, including in the Washington Post, Slate, TIME Magazine, Politico, Business Insider and the American Prospect. Fisher holds a Ph.D. and Master of Science degree from the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her undergraduate degree is in East Asian Studies and Environmental Studies from Princeton University.