About Prof. Rhee
Biography
I am a historian of modern landscapes of the United States and Europe and teach and advise broadly on the histories of modern environments, landscapes, sustainability, and urban spaces.
My book, Natural Attachments: The Domestication of American Environmentalism, 1920-1970, will be published by the University of Chicago Press in Spring 2025. The book provides a new interpretation of the rise and popularity of modern environmentalism through ideas of place, property ownership, and belonging. Using the city of Santa Barbara, California as the narrative’s center, the book argues that homeownership limits the political and social horizons of environmentalism. Understanding environmentalism as a movement focused on protecting ownership rather than expanding justice
I am currently at work on a new project tentatively titled Quality of Life: A History of a Modern Aspiration. It is an urban, environmental, and intellectual history of this vague, yet resonant phrase. An article based on this project on environmental quality as the basis of a critique of economic growth was published in Global Perspectives.
A list of scholarly publications on this and other research can be found here: https://experts.illinois.edu/en/persons/pollyanna-rhee/publications/
My essays and criticism have also appeared in the Avery Review, The Architect’s Newspaper, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Modern Intellectual History, and TANK.
I received my PhD in History and Theory of Architecture from Columbia University in 2018. Before joining the department in 2020, I was Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Environmental Humanities with the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Illinois. I have held fellowships from Dumbarton Oaks, the American Philosophical Society, the Huntington Library, and the University of Queensland.