Todd Nicewonger

I hold a Ph.D. in Applied Anthropology from Columbia University, an M.Ed. in Anthropology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an M.A. in Adult, Occupational, and Continuing Education from Kansas State University. My research examines the cultural practices of makers and growers and how these intersect with broader social and political concerns. This work has taken me into ethnographic research on both design learning and animal agriculture. I am also deeply engaged in transdisciplinary collaborations within academia, exploring how design methods and artistic practices can foster innovative research and meaningful forms of engagement.

Areas of Expertise

• Design Anthropology
• Sociocultural learning
• Participatory climate justice
• Environmental planning in agriculture

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• Creative Practices and Climate Change
• Atmosphere, Environment, and Land Politics
• Design Anthropology

Grants and Honors

• 2024 National Science Foundation Grant, Collaborative Research: Co-designing Infrastructural Futures in Alaska
• 2024 Cold Climate Housing Research Center Repository Research Project, PI,
• 2021-23, Faculty Fellow in the Center for Communicating Science, Virginia Tech
• 2021 National Science Foundation Grant, EAGER: Developing Effective and Culturally Appropriate Alaskan Housing
• 2021 National Science Foundation Grant, RAPID: COVID-19, Remote Ethnography, and the Rural Alaskan Housing Crisis
• 2019 Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Design and Sustainability: An Ethnography of the Transnational Circulation of Design Concepts and Practices
• 2011, Dissertation with Distinction, Columbia University, Teachers College
• 2007 Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Intellectuals, Material Culture, and Flemish Fashion Design as an Economy of Innovation
• 2007 Fulbright Scholar, US-Belgium Dissertation Fieldwork Grant

Select Publications 

2025 | Global Insights into Transdisciplinary Higher Education Initiatives. Edited by Todd E. Nicewonger and Catherine Amelink. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech Publishing.

2025 | “Building Transdisciplinary Research and Curricula: A Model for Developing Cross-Disciplinary Communities Among Faculty in Higher Education,” with Catherine Amelink. Trends in Higher Education. 4(2), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu4020026

2025 | “Collaborative Housing Design: Teaching Across Cultural, Climatic, and Geographical Differences.” Paper accepted and co-written with Lisa McNair for the American Society for Engineering Conference (ASEE), Montreal, Canda, June 22-25, 2025.

2025 | “Pandemic Transformation in a Field Study Design Course: Insights Before, During, and After the Crisis.” Paper accepted and co-written Shea Hagy and Catarina Ostlund for the American Society for Engineering Conference (ASEE), Montreal, Canda, June 22-25, 2025.

2024 | "Meta-Activity Theory as a Conceptual Tool for Supporting Transdisciplinary Curricular Experimentation in Undergraduate Learning Contexts." Paper published with Lisa McNair in the 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition proceedings, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47772

2023 | “COVID-19 and Housing Security in Remote Alaska Native Communities: An annotated bibliography,” with Stacey Fritz, Lisa McNair, Lauren Criss-Carboy, and Laura Supple. Virginia Tech Publishing platform.

2023 | “Moralizing Design Differences in the North: An Ethnographic Analysis.” Paper published with Stacey Fritz and Lisa McNair in the 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition proceedings, Baltimore, Maryland. https://peer.asee.org/43677

2022 | “Complexities in Alaskan Housing: Critical reflections on social forces shaping cold climate building projects.” Paper published with Stacey Fritz and Lisa McNair in the American Society for Engineering Conference (ASEE) Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. https://peer.asee.org/41510

 2022 | "Houselessness: Myth vs. Data,” with Stacey Fritz and Lisa McNair. Arctic Winter College 2021 Policy Briefs #1, The Arctic Institute (online)

2023 | “Spectrum of Modularity: An Alaskan Case Study of Modular Housing Types.” This annotated graphic is published on VTechWorks, an online, open-source platform administered by Virginia Tech Publishing. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/116256

2019 | Designs for Experimentation and Inquiry: Approaching Learning and Knowing in Digital Transformation. Edited by Åsa Mäkitalo, Todd E. Nicewonger, and Mark Elam. London: Routledge

2019 | “Prototype Driven Learning and Inquiry: A Case Study of Digital Design and the Conceptualization of an Architectural Prototype,” with Jonas Ivarsson. In Designs for Experimentation and Inquiry: Approaching Learning and Knowing in Digital Transformation. Edited by Åsa Mäkitalo, Todd E. Nicewonger, and Mark Elam. London: Routledge

2018 | “From Affective Encounters to Wearable Forms: Fashion Design Pedagogy and the Making of Atmosphere.” In Exploring Atmospheres Ethnographically. Edited by Sara Asu Schroer and Susanne Schmitt. London: Routledge

2017 | “Design Imaginaries: Knowledge Transformation and Innovation in Architectural Research,” with Jonas Ivarsson. Mind, Culture and Activity, 24 (1): 67-80

2016 | “Exploring Creativity: An Ethnographic Approach to Studying Fashion Design Pedagogy.” In Fashion Studies, Research Methods, Sites and Practices. Edited by Heike Jenss. London: Bloomsbury

2015 | “Boundary Objects Revisited: A Comparative Analysis of World Making in Animal Husbandry and Fashion Design.” Special Issue of Mind, Culture, and Activity—Leigh Star: Boundary Objects. Editors: Geoffrey C. Bowker, Adele Clarke, Mike Cole, Åsa Mäkitalo, and Roger Säljö. 22 (2): 152-167

2014 | “Anthropology and Design.” Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology. Edited by John Jackson. New York: Oxford University Press

2013 | “The Fashion Designer as Artist: Reflecting on 50 Years of Pedagogy.” Fashion Antwerp Academy 50. Lanno: Belgium