Reading Group
OSEH hosts a reading group that meets every month to catch up on, and discuss interesting topics and perspectives in the field – from ecocriticism to environmental history, animal studies, green media studies, environmental ethics and more. Readings may include articles, short stories, documentaries, historical case studies, exhibitions, video games, or current events. Check out the blog for a record of their previous meetings of follow them on Facebook @EnvironRG. The reading group aims to be a platform for exploration, collaboration, and recreation. All are welcome. Want to join, or pitch a topic? Sign up for the mailing list here, or contact the group's organizer, Laura op de Beke, with questions and comments.
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"The past is like a foreign country" L.P. Hartley wrote, but the deep past is like an alien world. How can we relate to deep time? And what does walking have to do with it?

Why is it that the fate of individual trees often elicits strong emotional responses from people? And what role does personal, cultural or national identity play in this dynamic?

How does information - data - feature in art and media on climate change? We are reading Heather Houser's Infowhelm to find out.

Ecotopia is a 1975 cult novel by Ernest Callenbach. Does it still hold revolutionary potential today?

This month we are reading excerpts from Martin Lee Mueller's Being Salmon Being Human, and asking ourselves how to make anthropomorphising narrativization work as a knowledge practice.

What are the ethical and political issues at work in the study of meat and dairy production? How can we be ethical witnesses to industrial-scale animal suffering?

This session we are exploring Marx's concept of metabolic rift, as well as the division of labour and how it plays into the work we do as environmental humanities scholars.

Join our February meeting on the topic of the Blue Humanities, or the study of the history and cultural imaginary of the ocean.

What values are espoused in the philosophy of New Agrarianism, and how does the concrete practice of permaculture fit into the picture?

How do we make sense of our environment through our ears? What are soundscapes and how can we study them?