Imaginings
stories, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other imaginative accounts of the natural world
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Worldview: Anthropocene: A Non-Concept?
by Amélia Polónia A concept should serve to create a common understanding between scholars, a common language to facilitate communication among disciplines. Does this apply to the term “Anthropocene”? The “Anthropocene” is without doubt a widely used term, not only among academics—from geologists, Earth system scientists, ecologists, and physicists to philosophers, anthropologists, and historians—but also…
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Riches of Nature, Limits of Nature
“Riches of Nature, Limits of Nature: Donald Worster and Environmental History” Report on an International Conference (Beijing, China, June 26-28, 2016) In June of 2016, the Center for Ecological History (CEH) along with the School of History at Renmin University of China, hosted an academic conference honoring environmental history’s doyen Donald Worster (RCC alumnus). The…
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Student Research: Why the Past (Really) Matters
By Yolanda Lopez-Maldonado Concern has grown in recent years over how our actions have transformed the natural world. This worry has prompted a deluge of news stories about environmental crises and their impact on global societies, such as climate change, food and water security, resource degradation, loss of biodiversity, and rising costs of resource management.…
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CfA: RCC Researcher in Residence
The Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society (RCC) is pleased to announce the creation of one or more Researcher in Residence positions starting at the earliest in January 2017. These positions are designed for postdocs or inter-disciplinary scholars who have a project that falls within the RCC’s research field of Environment and Society. The Rachel…
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Cycling Cities: An Interview with Ruth Oldenziel
Cycling Cities: The European Experience was recently published by the Foundation for the History of Technology and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. Edited by Ruth Oldenziel, Martin Emanuel, Adri Albert de la Bruhèze, and Frank Veraart, the book explores 100 years of urban cycling policy, use, and practice in 14 European cities. We sat down…
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Bookshelf: “What Would Animals Say If We Asked the Right Questions?” by Vinciane Despret, translated by Brett Buchanan
In this special “Bookshelf” post for Women in Translation month, RCC fellow Amanda Boetzkes reflects on Vinciane Despret’s recently published What Would Animals Say If We Asked the Right Questions? I cannot think of a more appropriate author to consider during Women in Translation month, than Belgian philosopher Vinciane Despret, whose work speaks to some…
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Workshop: Transformations of the Earth
“Talking Transformation in Beijing” By Bailey Albrecht This piece was originally published in Edge Effects on July 12, 2016 In Shanghai’s Natural History Museum there exists a full-sized re-creation of an African plain, complete with a herd of spooked zebras in perpetual flight from a crouching lion. It was neither the zebras, nor the two large…
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Making Tracks: Robert Wilson
In the “Making Tracks” series, RCC fellows and alumni present their experiences in environmental humanities, retracing the paths that led them to the Rachel Carson Center. For more information, please click here. “Scholar Activist?” By Robert Wilson My journey to the Rachel Carson Center began five years ago in a hot, stifling Washington, DC jail…
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Snapshot: RCC Olympic Table Tennis
Combining a well deserved break from the computer, green surroundings, and fresh air, some RCC’ers recently held their own table tennis competition! They took advantage of the warm weather and Munich’s outdoor facilities to share in the spirit of the Olympic Games. Thanks to all those who took part and a special congratulations to gold medalist…