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.
Join us for one event or for the whole series! All events are free and open to the public.
Energy
In this series of linked lectures, readings, workshops, and discussions we will focus on the concept of energy. We will explore major contemporary approaches to energy use, the environmental impact of energy, and our changing approaches to energy needs, conservation, and design. We will also hear from researchers in emerging fields such as Energy Humanities, who approach the critical questions of our relationship to materials, fuels, and resources as informed not just by science or policy but also by human cultures, traditions, and philosophies. In their interdisciplinary, critical, and historical perspectives about energy forms we discover the role the humanities and social sciences can play in informing policy and public awareness of our energy uses.
Fall 2017:
Fuel: History of a Strange Concept
Karen Pinkus, Department of Romance Studies, Cornell University
Monday September 26, 2016, 1 pm
Cruising the Petro-state: Car Culture and Nigerian Cinema
Lindsey Green-Simms, Department of Literature, American University
Wednesday November 2, 2016, 1 pm
“After Oil: Transitioning to a New World of Energy”
Imre Szeman, University of Alberta
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Spring 2017
Profane Energies/Sacred Narratives: On Religion and Environmentalism
Evan Berry, Department of Philosophy and Religion, American University
Wednesday February 15, 2017, 1 pm
The Energy of Objects: Loving and Loathing Our Material Things
Arielle Bernstein, American University
March 1, 2017, 1 pm
Learning from Butterflies: Understanding and Predicting Butterfly Responses to a Warming Climate
Leslie Ries, Department of Biology, Georgetown University
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Energy Policy Today: The Environment, the Economy, and Contemporary Politics
Claire Brunel, American University
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
