In fall 2023 Associate Professor of History Kara Schlichting received, as part of a UK-based research team, a Wellcome Discovery Award. The five-year project is entitled “Melting Metropolis: Everyday Histories of Health and Heat in London, New York, and Paris since 1945.” It examines the effect of extreme heat in three major cities, London, Paris, and New York, in the post-war era. Schlichting and her collaborators are studying how Londoners, New Yorkers and Parisians have experienced heat and sought to mitigate its impact on their health and well-being. The project considers people’s lived experience alongside the actions of urban authorities and planners. Melting Metropolis integrates archival research, oral history, ethnography, and community engagement to investigate the challenging interaction between the climate crisis, health, and cities.
In July 2023 Schlichting and the project’s Research Artist, Bryony Benge-Abbott ran a New York City pilot program in Queens. Events included two “Handling the Heat” craft table and community surveys at Queens Central Library and 34th Avenue Open Streets, Jackson Heights; a photography exhibit 'Handling the Heat: How we do summer in Queens” at Queens Central Library; two "Drawing Heat" sensory art walks in Jamaica; and an "Open Newsroom" event “Preparing for Climate Change in NYC” with local digital nonprofit newspaper The City on August 3 at Queens Central Library.