Humanities Lab

Energy

Each year the Humanities Lab undertakes an investigation of a specific question or topic. For the 2016-2017 academic year we are investigating questions of energy, especially focusing on interdisciplinary and cultural perspectives.
Talks, lectures and workshops will focus on critical, and historical perspectives about energy forms, and explore the role the humanities and social sciences can play in informing policy and public awareness of our energy uses.
Join us for one event or for the whole series! All events are free and open to the public.

Fuel: History of a Strange Concept

What can critical theory, literature, and film help us understand about fuel? Join us for a lecture by Professor Karen Pinkus (Department of Romance Studies, Cornell University) on the concept of “fuel” in western culture and philosophy, and the ways in which our understanding of energy has structured modernity. Part of her new book, Fuel: A Speculative Dictionary (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), the talk examines different types of fuel, from everyday fossil and renewable fuels to fantastical fuels found in science fiction and speculative literature. This work was inspired by professor Pinkus’ concern about the environment, and her sense that that the humanities can bring a critical research component to solving the problems of climate change.

Claudia Rankine visits AU

Claudia Rankine will be at American University in November to discuss Citizen: An American Lyric, a cutting meditation on race and the crisis of citizenship in contemporary America. The book is the focus of the one-day Literature Colloquium, a day of discussion and exploration of her work on November 11, 2015. Claudia Rankine will read from her work on November 12, 2015 at the Katzen Center for the Arts. Don't miss it!