Thinking with other beings in multisecies ethnography and the environmental humanities.
Those interested in more than human lives often face a number of challenges. Disciplines and social theory have often been thoroughly anthropocentric, where non humans are seen only as resources, commodities or have some form of utilitarian value to humans. What does it mean to think otherwise? How might be work with concepts, such as agency, designed in anthropcentric or even human exceptionalist frameworks and find them helpful in our studies? How can we think about making concepts expansive enough to work beyond a human-centered world, and yet specific enough to offer traction and insight in vastly different contexts?
In this meeting, Michael Hathaway will share some of his own thinking about these issues in his work with fungi. Pariticpants can bring in their own examples of inspiring scholarship that they wish to inform their projects or describe their own thinking on related concepts for discussion.
We’ll be meeting on Friday the 28th of October in Evolution House (EVO 5.21) 10-11am.
