Professor Elizabeth Povinelli from Columbia University will present her free public lecture “Extractive Ecologies & Filmic Creations: Examples from the Karrabing Film Collective” on Thursday, Sept. 19

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SFU’s President’s Dream Colloquium explores creative ecologies

September 19, 2019
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With pressing international headlines heralding climate change, habitat destruction, drought, extinction and environmental degradation, many interest groups are attempting to solve environmental problems.

However, recognizing the impossibility of relying on any one knowledge system to save the world, environmental humanities has emerged to bridge knowledge gaps within the arts and sciences, creating new histories and descriptions about the interdependent, multispecies liveliness of landscapes.

This fall, Simon Fraser University’s President’s Dream Colloquium will focus on this emerging field of environmental humanities in a six-part public lecture series, ‘Creative Ecologies.’ Starting on Thursday, Sept. 19, the series will explore how cultural practitioners—artists, writers, anthropologists, historians and interdisciplinary theorists—critically address and creatively investigate intersections between art, culture and environmental concerns.

“Creative Ecologies asks how art, philosophy and decolonizing methodologies might help us to connect more intimately and imaginatively to the environmental disasters unfolding all around us,” says Denise Oleksijczuk, course instructor and one of three colloquium curators. “The colloquium aims to foster a renewed sense of curiosity about the world, to cultivate the art of noticing what we’ve become blind to, and to inspire new collective activities and possibilities.”

Public lectures will feature renowned international speakers whose expertise spans visual culture and art history, anthropology and sociology, and Indigenous resurgence. The colloquium will promote cross-disciplinary discussion on the emerging environmental arts and humanities in academia and beyond.

The colloquium seminars will be held at either SFU’s Burnaby or Vancouver campuses on Thursdays. The events are free and open to the public but require registration. Each lecture will be followed by a reception.

SCHEDULE:

Thursday, September 19, 3:30 pm, Big Data Presentation Studio, Burnaby Campus

Elizabeth Povinelli, Frans Boas Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies at Columbia University. Speaking on “Extractive Ecologies & Filmic Creations: Examples from the Karrabing Film Collective.”

Thursday, September 26, 2:30 pm, Big Data Hub, Burnaby Campus

Timothy Ingold, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen. Speaking on “The Sustainability of Everything.”

Thursday, October 17, 7 pm, Fei and Milton Wong Theatre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Vancouver Campus

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, a Michi Saaglig Nichnaabeg writer, scholar and activist. Speaking on “Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes).”

Thursday, October 24, 3:30 pm, Big Data Hub Presentation Studio, Burnaby Campus

Claire Colebrook, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University. Speaking on “What would you do (and who would you kill) in order to save the world?”

Thursday, November 7, 7:00 pm, Djavad Mowafaghian World Art, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Vancouver Campus

Susan Schuppli, director and reader in the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmith’s, University of London. Speaking on “Earth Evidence.”

Thursday, November 21, 7:00 pm, Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Vancouver Campus

Candice Hopkins, a Tlingit art curator and writer. Speaking on “Indigenous Methodologies and Exhibition Making.”