earth from space, click image for video (thanks NASA!)

The Anthropocene

2014-2015 Theme for the EHI

The Anthropocene is the 2014-2015 theme for both UCSB’s Environmental Humanities Initiative (EHI) and our Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (IHC). The IHC’s public events series, The Anthropocene: Views from the Humanities, explores this time of significant biospheric human influence, with the aim of bringing into focus the challenges that now confront the planet and its inhabitants through the unique, critical perspectives afforded by the humanities and fine arts.

Details on the IHC Series. The series includes talks by Andrew Revkin (The New York Times), Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (poet, winner of the American Book Award), Wang Shu (China Academy of Art, winner of the Pritzker Prize), Erik M. Conway (historian, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and many others (view all). Talks are also available as podcasts via Soundcloud for listening on the go.

In addition to the UCSB talks, this website aggregates a range of talks given elsewhere on the anthropocene from the perspective of the humanities. Featured speakers include Bruno Latour, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Noam Chomsky, David Suzuki, Peter Singer, and others (view videos).

Not quite sure what the anthropocene is, or why it is environmentally significant (or just want to learn more)? We have also collected together a number of short films that are designed to introduce the concept (view videos).

Finally, we have collected together contemporary art in which artists explore the concept of the anthropocene.