Anthropology of the Anthropocene (2017)

Anthropology of the Anthropocene: Structures, Theories, Practices was a workshop organized by the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute (IAHI) that brought together anthropologists and leading thinkers in policy, theory, philosophy, science, art, humanities, urban planning, and law who have been tackling the sociocultural frameworks and experiences of the Anthropocene. The goal of this workshop was to tackle large multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary questions about anthropology’s role in the Anthropocene as we collectively examine how new research methods might advance current theoretical and applied frameworks. This workshop was a project of Rivers of the Anthropocene.

Anthropology of the Anthropocene: Structures, Theories, Practices was designed to bring together anthropologists who have been tackling the sociocultural frameworks and experiences of the Anthropocene and to place them in conversation with leading thinkers in policy, theory, philosophy, science, art, humanities, urban planning, and law. The goal was to address large multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary questions about anthropology’s role in the Anthropocene and to collectively examine how new research methods might advance current theoretical and applied frameworks. The following were core-framing questions for the workshop: (1) In what ways are anthropological methods, theories, and practices responsive to the Anthropocene?; (2) How do we bridge disciplinary boundaries to advance critical and timely sociocultural research on changing earth systems and the human experience?; (3) How are we preparing the next generation of researchers with the right tools, frameworks, and language to design relevant ethnographies?; and (4) What should a publicly engaged Anthropology of the Anthropocene look like?

This workshop was funded by the Indiana University New Frontiers in the Arts & Humanities Program and The Wenner-Gren Foundation.

 

Participants

  • Maria Rebecca Ballestra, Artist

  • Dominic Boyer, PhD, Professor of Anthropology and Director of CENHS (Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences) at Rice University

  • Eduardo Brondizio, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for the Analysis of Social-Ecological Landscapes (CASEL) at Indiana University (IUB)

  • Alejandro Camargo, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography, University of Montreal

  • Jim Enote, Director of the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center

  • Ananya Ghoshal, PhD, Assistant Professor of English at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore

  • Ignatius Gutsa, PhD, Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zimbabwe

  • Cymene Howe, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at Rice University

  • Sue Jackson, PhD, Professor of Anthropology in the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University

  • Mark Kesling, MS, Founder and CEO, The daVinci Pursuit

  • Jason M. Kelly, PhD, Professor of History and Director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute at Indiana University (IUPUI)

  • George Marcus, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Irvine

  • Fiona McDonald, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher at the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute at Indiana University (IUPUI)

  • Amelia Moore, PhD, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Coastal Tourism and Recreation in the Department of Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island

  • Phil Scarpino, PhD, Professor and Director of Public History at Indiana University (IUPUI)

  • Paul Stoller, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania