The Environmental Humanities Research Cluster is hosting a symposium, “Approaching Extinction, Contesting Extinction,” at Miami University, with keynote lectures by Kathryn Yusoff (Department of Geography, Queen Mary University of London) and Wesley Leonard, (Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California–Riverside).
Recent studies indicate that a mass species extinction is well underway on our planet. Wildlife populations have decreased by 60% in the last few decades and 70% of agricultural diversity has disappeared. By investigating entanglements between life extinction and political imagination as well as social drivers and cultural dimensions of extinction, we hope to generate strategies for countering or mobilizing fears about death and extinction and enabling collective response and action.
9:30am
Lisa Ottum, Xavier University
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Extinction”
Shriver Dolibois Room
10:15am
Ryan Heryford, California State University–East Bay
“‘the word for bringing bodies back from water': Oceanic Ecopoetics, Black Life, and the Re-Imagining of Extinction”
Shriver Dolibois Room
11:00am
Alex Benson, Bard College
“A Curious Survivance: John Oskison's Baja Rat”
Shriver Dolibois Room
1:00pm
Closing Keynote Address: Wesley Leonard
"Contesting Extinction: Toward a Praxis of Language Reclamation"
Opportunity to view Myaamia Ribbonwork Exhibition
Miami Art Museum, 801 S Patterson
5:30pm
"Changing Climate, Changing Communities" Exhibition Reception
Oxford Community Art Center, 10 S College Ave
Approaching Extinction, Contesting Extinction is funded by a Humanities Research Collaborative Grant from the Miami University Humanities Center and a grant from Athabasca University. Please direct all inquiries about the volume and symposium to envhum@miamioh.edu.
