Jessica Caporusso Collaboration Bio

Hi, I'm Jessica Caporusso, a Ph.D. Candidiate in the Department of Anthropology at York University (Canada). I'm in the process of writing up my dissertation on the conflicts and contestation surrounding green energy regimes in the Republic of Mauritius, an island nation that is currently grappling with an unprecedented ecological disaster in-the-making. It follows two plant protagonists, sugarcane and Arundo donax, as they are refashioned into extensions of scientific imperialism in the global South. I try to highlight how demands for sustainable energy sources are accutely felt in this moment of climate crisis in Mauritius. Further, I query how biofuels derived from sugarcane and Arundo rework popular imaginaries of what counts as 'sustainable' in an increasingly carbon-constrained world.

Areas of Interest / Skills to Share:

Sense-work / Ethnography

As a sensory anthropologist, I'm interested in ways that sense-work and modes of embodiment can open new questions and possibilities for multimodal inquiry. My prior ethnographic research in sound recording studios and present work in hands-on agronomy and chemical engineering classrooms builds upon these attunements. 

Open Source Mapping

During my fieldwork in Mauritius, I participated in several projects that involved walking and mapping as pedagogy. Here, I learned how to use QGIS, OpenStreetMap, and walking sketches/photography as methods for 'reading' landscapes otherwise.

WordPress / Digital Humanities

I help manage several digital humanities and course websites on Wordpress. These skills, mostly learned through trial-and-error (and some luck), were cultivated in collaboration with an interdiscipinary group of feminist scholars interested digital humanities and digital research ethics.