Carbon dioxide emissions, toxic industrial chemicals, microplastics, radioactive waste. Such human driven environmental phenomena have led to the declaration of the ‘Anthropocene’ as the current geologic epoch characterised by anthropogenic impact on Earth/environment. There has never been a more urgent need for informed, interdisciplinary discussion on human relations to non-human life, environment, and histories.
Over the course of Hilary and Trinity terms, we will be running 2, 90 minute, in-person discussions in response to the anthropologist Anna Tsing’s ‘Feral Atlas’ project. This online platform is a large interdisciplinary collaboration designed to ‘navigate the land-, sea-, and airscapes of the Anthropocene’. Based on the readings and exercises/activities suggested, we will interrogate the crucial questions posed by Anthropocene studies to practice and form new approaches to research.
What new kinds of research trajectories that refuse to be limited by disciplinary divides can feral atlas help us imagine?
This group encourages participants from all disciplines. We hope this will act as an exciting foundation to facilitate productive, Anthropocene discussions for students and academics who feel this project reflects their interests and research. We would like it to be a space where people might find other students or academics to collaborate further with and the opportunity for people who might not usually study this content to cross disciplinary boundaries, encountering new research and concepts for Anthropocene thinking.
We are suggesting a few key themes and short readings from the feral atlas website, but encourage your own navigation of the websites content as you find enjoyable. Read as much or as little as you like, all research interests are welcome, and the themes are just starting points for a larger discussion. The first discussion will be on Indigenous Environmental Histories and the second will be based on Toxic Landscapes and Anthropocene Epistemologies.
If you are new to the Anthropocene: What is the Anthropocene?, Feral Atlas as a Verb.
Invasion, Empire, Capital, Acceleration
If you have any questions please email Emily.reed2@worc.ox.ac.uk
