Conversations on the Elemental
The theme of “the Elemental” served as the organizing scheme of the Anthropocene Campus Melbourne and operated as a reference point for the articulation of genuinely anthropocenic questions and research paths. By directing the debate around the Anthropocene towards “the Elemental,” the overall agenda was to—as organizer Timothy Neal has put it—“stick with the troubles of matter.” The conversations below explore the motif of “the Elemental” from multiple perspectives and methodological approaches.
- contributionLauren Rickards
Producing the Anthropocene, Producing the Future
A reflection on the ideological underpinnings and modes of thought that have enabled the Anthropocene.
Future, Human-environment relations, Knowledge transformation, Epistemology
- contributionBriohny Doyle
Dramatizing the Future
How can speculative fiction offer imaginary, narrative, and aesthetic approaches to the Anthropocene? A reflection on this issue.
Scenario, Perception, Ocean
- contributionAdam Bobbette
Forecasting Earth Futures
How do futures emerge? And how are they understood and produced? An examination on the social function of the process of forecasting.
Future, Scenario, Imaginary, Model
- contributionPatricia Piccinni, Claudia Vickers
Panel talk beween Patricia Piccinini and Claudia Vickers
Artist Patricia Piccinini and synthetic biologist Claudia Vickers discuss novel forms of life and science’s role in shaping conceptions and imaginations of the world.
Human-animal relations, Human-environment relations, Aesthetics, Biodiversity, Agency
- contribution
Roving Plenarists Report
Recapitulation of the ACM18 with Andrea Ballestero (Rice University), Nicholas Shapiro (University of Toronto/UCLA), Aadita Chaudhury (York University), and Juan Francisco Salazar (Western Sydney University), hosted by Manuel Tironi (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile).
Knowledge transformation, Knowledge production, Epistemology, Education
- contribution
Typha, the once and future planty companion
Opening keynote by Lesley Head on the hidden and visible identities of Typha and its potential as a resistant plant of the Anthropocene
Human-environment relations, Future, Resilience, Ecology
