Mountains and Desire: is there a queer mountaineering?


Margret Grebowicz (born 1973) is a Polish philosopher, author, and former jazz vocalist. She is a continental philosopher specializing in environmental imagination, wilderness, animals, and public lands. In 1994, she earned a bachelor’s degree in German literature, philosophy, and art history from University of Texas at Austin. While completing her undergraduate degree, Grebowicz worked in record stores. She completed a Master of Arts degree from Emory University in 1998. In 2001, she earned a doctorate in philosophy at Emory University where she studied under Jean-François Lyotard. She completed her dissertation on late 20th century French philosophy and Anglo-American philosophy of science with doctoral advisor David Carr. After her doctorate, Grebowicz taught at University of Houston–Downtown and wrote papers on feminist epistemology, radical democracy, French philosophy, and visual culture. She also translated poetry from Polish into English, including works by Ewa Lipska.Her most recent books include Rescue Me: On Dogs and Their Humans, Mountains and Desire: Climbing vs. the End of the World, Whale Song, and The National Park to Come. She is also the co-editor, with Kiff Bamford, of Lyotard and Critical Practice, and the founding editor of the book series Practices, published by Duke University Press. Her recent articles have appeared in Slate and the Atlantic. She has held fellowships at Arizona State University (inaugural Residency in Situated Philosophy) and University of Dundee (Leverhulme Trust Visiting Fellowship). She has held professorships in the U.S. and in Russia, and is currently an associate professor of humanities at the University of Silesia in Poland.Margret is currently working on a book about national parks on the southern border, tentatively titled The Border Sublime and under contract with Repeater Books, UK. In 2022-23, she will be studying the dynamics among various agencies working along the Arizona border, including government agencies, Indigenous governments, private conservancies, and humanitarian groups, with specific attention to how those dynamics shape the border parks, both ideologically and materially.


Note: This lecture comes as part of the Education+ program in the framework of the In the making exhibition.

This activity is supported by Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) program ‘EJA Kosovo’, co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Sweden, and Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.As well as the Office of President of Kosovo, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and Municipality of Prishtina