Evento

The Nature of the Humanities

This year's Graduate Conference explores the intersection of nature and the humanities, addressing our contemporary global dilemma. Critical analysis of nature commemorates natural landscapes, habitats, and settings currently imperiled; warns of future climate change; critiques our dependence on non-renewable resources; and contemplates how consumer capitalism taxes our planet. Nature-focused humanities projects need not be confined to works concerned with or set in the countryside; urban concerns (overpopulation, poor living conditions, pollution, etc.) often seemingly far removed from rural texts and topics tend to stem from, or dovetail with, broader environmental issues. We look forward to an engaged day of dialogue that will address questions such as how we inhabit physical spaces, how literature and the arts impact or reflect that relationship, or how the humanities may point towards solutions to pressing environmental concerns.

This year's Kahana Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Professor Ken Hiltner from the University of California at Santa Barbara. There, Professor Hiltner directs the Environmental Humanities Center. He has also recently the Currie C. and Thomas A. Barron Visiting Professor in the Environment and Humanities at the Princeton Environmental Institute.