Ghaleb Attrache
Assistant Professor in Residence
About
Ghaleb Attrache (BA UCLA; MPhil Cambridge; PhD UC Berkeley) is assistant professor in residence in the Liberal Arts Program. An ethnographer and sociologist, Ghaleb studies the relationship between environmental meaning, knowledge, politics, and ethics in everyday life. His current book project is tentatively titled "The Good Fire Resurgence: Living with Fire and Building Climate Resilience in California." Based on five years of participant observation, in-depth interviews, and archival research, the project examines the current revitalization of intentional burning practices among governmental, non-governmental, and Indigenous fire and land management organizations in California. It compares the different ways fire practitioners and advocates of burning understand ecological change and adaptation, the aliveness of fire and land, and responsibilities to place, community, and society. Previously, Ghaleb researched religion, revolutions, and social movements in contemporary Syria and Egypt.Ghaleb has taught courses on environmental and multispecies justice, Indigenous ecocultural stewardship, climate change, and social theory.
Publications
2026. "Toward Indigenous fire relations in California" (Book Review Essay with Tony Marks-Block). American Ethnologist 53(2): 192-196. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.700742018. "Contending With Hope and Heartbreak: Narrative, Knowledge, and Strategy in the Syrian Revolution." Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies 41(3): 42-59. 10.1353/jsa.2018.0009
