Vincent Ialenti

Human life may be but a blip on the geological timescale, but it is also all that we will ever know of the cosmos. In this year’s panel, Blue Planet, three authors will speak to what it means to write literature in an era in which humans are having a devastating influence on the health of the planet. We’re very excited to welcome Vincent Ialenti to Unbound to be part of this fascinating conversation.

Vincent Ialenti is a cultural anthropologist who studies the various ways in which human communities understand time and envision the future. He is currently a Berggruen Institute Fellow at University of Southern California's Dornsife Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life. His recent book, Deep Time Reckoning, is an anthropological exploration of how Finland’s nuclear waste experts grappled with distant future ecosystems and the limits of technical knowledge. Vincent's research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, The Mellon Foundation, and The MacArthur Foundation. He has held fellowships at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs and University of British Columbia's School of Public Policy & Global Affairs. Alongside his academic publications, he has written for the BBC, Scientific American, NPR, Forbes, and other outlets. Vincent holds a PhD from Cornell University and a MSc from The London School of Economics.