Panel 4: Fossil Fuels

/34 Comments/in /by

CLIMATE CHANGE: VIEWS FROM THE HUMANITIES

A NEARLY CARBON-NEUTRAL CONFERENCE

Panel 4: Fossil Fuels

Red, White, Blue, Green, Magenta?: Possibilities of Solidarity in the Anti-Fracking Movement

Corrie Ellis, University of California, Santa Barbara

This presentation explores the diversity found in the anti-fracking movement across the nation. Rather than being a source of division for the movement, the author suggests that this diversity is a great asset to the movement, and a necessary one if it is to grow and succeed in curbing the fracking industry (more).

The Aesthetic Disvalue of Burning Fossil Fuels

Ewan Kingston, Duke University

This talk calls for a reduction of individual carbon emissions not on the ground of moral grounds, but of aesthetics. By looking at the energy flow of burning fossil fuels and by assuming the world has aesthetic value, the author concludes that burning of fossil fuels coheres less with the natural world than their green alternatives. The author touches upon the implications of this idea as well (more).

“Keep It In the Ground”: Global Warming and the Challenge of Redefining Hydrocarbons

Bart H. Welling, University of North Florida

In this talk the stage is set for humanities to change how we interact with fossil fuels. While science can inform us about the relationship of fossil fuels and global warming, it is the responsibility of the humanities to change our relationships with the fuels. If we are to avoid the worst of climatic events this will be a necessary step to ensuring we leave these fuels in the ground and pursue greener alternatives (more).

Q & A

Have questions or comments? Feel free to take part in the Q&A!

Before posting, you must first register. Note that questions and comments can be intended for individual speakers, the entire panel, or anyone who has posted to the Q&A. Respond directly to a particular question/comment by way of the little “reply” below it. The vertical threadlike lines are there to make it easier to see which part of the discussion (i.e. “thread”) you are taking up. You can choose to be notified via email (see below) whenever a question, answer, or comment is posted to this particular Q&A. Because the email notification will contain the new comment in its entirety, you can both follow the discussion as it is unfolding, as well as decide whether you would like to step in at any point. You can choose to receive email notifications for as many of the conference Q&A sessions as you like, as well as stop notifications at any time. Because the Q&A sessions will close at the end of the conference, all email notifications will also end at this time. Although only registered conference participants can pose questions and make comments, Q&A sessions are visible to the public and will remain so after the conference has ended, as we hope that they will become cited resources.

Panel 3: The Anthropocene

/14 Comments/in /by

CLIMATE CHANGE: VIEWS FROM THE HUMANITIES

A NEARLY CARBON-NEUTRAL CONFERENCE

Panel 3: The Anthropocene

“The Cloudflower Blossoms:” Doctor Atomic and Sublime Repetition in the Anthropocene

Patrick Milian, University of Washington

The idea of the sublime is still very much present in the 21st century, though no longer reserved for just natural events; as we’ve entered the Anthropocene, the awe and terror usually reserved for nature has come to include human events. Using the opera Doctor Atomic by John Adams as a case-study, the author presents an alternative way to view the sublime, one that is necessary given mankind’s profound abilities to alter the planet (more).

Vanua in the Anthropocene: Fijian Ontologies and Climate Change

Maebh Long, University of the South Pacific

This paper explores the complexities of the term vanua, an interconnectedness between people and place in which people are figured as belonging to the land. The term translates to ‘land’, which in Fiji includes the water and signifies the ocean’s significance within Pacific Island Discourse. Through the lens of vanua, the author examines the implications of anthropogenic sea-level rise in terms of a trespass and intrusion not merely into place, but into self (more).

Climate Change, AIDS, and Queering the Anthropocene: Tony Kushner’s Angels in America

Kristen Angierski, Cornell University

Queer theory and ecocriticism has a history of conflict rooted in what is deemed natural. This talk explores this clash in the play Angels in America by Tony Kushner where earth and queer crisis collide over what is natural. By studying the competing temporal systems present in the play, the author ultimately argues the necessity of a reconciliation of queer theory and ecocriticism to address climate change (more).

Q & A

Have questions or comments? Feel free to take part in the Q&A!

Before posting, you must first register. Note that questions and comments can be intended for individual speakers, the entire panel, or anyone who has posted to the Q&A. Respond directly to a particular question/comment by way of the little “reply” below it. The vertical threadlike lines are there to make it easier to see which part of the discussion (i.e. “thread”) you are taking up. You can choose to be notified via email (see below) whenever a question, answer, or comment is posted to this particular Q&A. Because the email notification will contain the new comment in its entirety, you can both follow the discussion as it is unfolding, as well as decide whether you would like to step in at any point. You can choose to receive email notifications for as many of the conference Q&A sessions as you like, as well as stop notifications at any time. Because the Q&A sessions will close at the end of the conference, all email notifications will also end at this time. Although only registered conference participants can pose questions and make comments, Q&A sessions are visible to the public and will remain so after the conference has ended, as we hope that they will become cited resources.

Panel 2: The Digital/Environmental Intervention

/31 Comments/in /by

CLIMATE CHANGE: VIEWS FROM THE HUMANITIES

A NEARLY CARBON-NEUTRAL CONFERENCE

Panel 2: The Digital/Environmental Intervention

Adapting to Changing Climates – Towards Teaching in Digital Environments

Danen Poley, Dalhousie University

While not all disciplines stand to benefit from the increasing move to digital teaching environments, the humanities certainly do. By making more texts available in digitized form, students are freed from having to travel to institutions of higher learning to study them. The author defends the opportunity this presents and argues the ethical exigency of embracing this move to the digital. digital environments have the opportunity to reach students in previously impossible ways (more).

Communicating Beyond Borders: The opportunities and challenges of digital communication to further the climate conversation

Ann Dale & Jaigris Hodson, Royal Roads University

Despite near unanimous accord over the imminent and irreversible effects of climate change, these issues are often phrased as a debate within the popular media. This talk will emphasize the role social media can play in this debate and how the media realm can be expanded in new spaces in future years (more).

Online Architectural Education as a Facilitator of a Sustainable Future

Samuel Fardoe, formerly of Curtin University, (speaking on his own behalf)

Online education tends to result in a smaller carbon footprint than equivalent education in person. The benefit of online education can go beyond this as well by providing better learning opportunities than would otherwise be possible. Using architecture as a case study, this paper argues that the greater sustainability of online educational practices helps to foster greater sustainable practices within its students(more).

Q & A

Have questions or comments? Feel free to take part in the Q&A!

Before posting, you must first register. Note that questions and comments can be intended for individual speakers, the entire panel, or anyone who has posted to the Q&A. Respond directly to a particular question/comment by way of the little “reply” below it. The vertical threadlike lines are there to make it easier to see which part of the discussion (i.e. “thread”) you are taking up. You can choose to be notified via email (see below) whenever a question, answer, or comment is posted to this particular Q&A. Because the email notification will contain the new comment in its entirety, you can both follow the discussion as it is unfolding, as well as decide whether you would like to step in at any point. You can choose to receive email notifications for as many of the conference Q&A sessions as you like, as well as stop notifications at any time. Because the Q&A sessions will close at the end of the conference, all email notifications will also end at this time. Although only registered conference participants can pose questions and make comments, Q&A sessions are visible to the public and will remain so after the conference has ended, as we hope that they will become cited resources.

Panel 1: Flying and Focusing on the Everyday

/38 Comments/in /by

CLIMATE CHANGE: VIEWS FROM THE HUMANITIES

A NEARLY CARBON-NEUTRAL CONFERENCE

Panel 1: Flying and Focusing on the Everyday

The Inner Lives of Climate Scientists

Peter Kalmus, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (speaking on his own behalf)

Climate scientists routinely attend talks about the rapidly dying biosphere after which we ask a few polite questions and then shuffle back to our offices. We also routinely have some of the largest carbon footprints of any humans on Earth due to frequent flights to conferences and meetings. This talk  discusses these bizarre tribal practices and inner lives of climate scientists, employing a combination of anecdote and survey (more).

A Strategy for Flying Less in Academic Communities

Parke Wilde, Tufts University

This presentation will (a) briefly review the climate impact of flying, (b) explain the strategic focus on university and research communities, (c) review the wonderful diversity of methods available for universities and professional associations to reduce flying without greatly impairing academic research productivity or quality of life, and (d) summarize responses to common questions or objections that arise in conversations with academics about this issue (more).

The Nature of  the “Less than Meaningless” and “Self-righteous, Self-referential, Ascetic Bullshit” in the Anthropocene

Joseph Nevins, Vassar College

This paper interrogates four major ideas: 1) the implicit assumption that nature only unfolds on one scale—that of the biosphere; 2) an understanding of nature as singular, rather than plural; 3) a perception of the individual and collective as distinct; and 4) a failure to appreciate that “nature” is produced in such way that it is inextricably tied to power and inequality (more).

Q & A

Have questions or comments? Feel free to take part in the Q&A!

Before posting, you must first register. Note that questions and comments can be intended for individual speakers, the entire panel, or anyone who has posted to the Q&A. Respond directly to a particular question/comment by way of the little “reply” below it. The vertical threadlike lines are there to make it easier to see which part of the discussion (i.e. “thread”) you are taking up. You can choose to be notified via email (see below) whenever a question, answer, or comment is posted to this particular Q&A. Because the email notification will contain the new comment in its entirety, you can both follow the discussion as it is unfolding, as well as decide whether you would like to step in at any point. You can choose to receive email notifications for as many of the conference Q&A sessions as you like, as well as stop notifications at any time. Because the Q&A sessions will close at the end of the conference, all email notifications will also end at this time. Although only registered conference participants can pose questions and make comments, Q&A sessions are visible to the public and will remain so after the conference has ended, as we hope that they will become cited resources.