Deep History and Science in Conversation: The Anthropocene

Perhaps unsurprisingly, our topic for the previous and inaugural session in our Conversation Series was inspired by the alarming and largely unprecedented context in which the conversation occurred, the imminent threat of a highly contagious and lethal virus capturing all of our attention. Though slightly different in nature, there is nevertheless another, equally accelerating threat that we have found ourselves in, to which we turn our attention in this session. Though perhaps with less novelty than COVID-19, this topic is equally global, lethal, and imminent. As you might have guessed from its title, it considers global climate change.

In this session, we are looking to unite the geological and historical perspectives of the Anthropocene into the one conversation. Much in the same way we study the natural sciences to understand our current and future worlds, equally, we study human history to contextualise our present predicaments, to understand how things have come to be as they are, and, perhaps, to recognise the need for change. With this in mind, we would like to bring together the Anthropocene’s ‘two intellectual lives’, and see what insights might be gained when considering an issue in its fullest, transdisciplinary context.

Speakers:

Professor Alison Bashford, Professor of History and Director of the New Earth Histories Research Program at the University of New South Wales; Professor Joan Leach, Director of the Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science at the ANU; Professor Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society at the ANU; with Dr Julie Rickwood from the Research Centre for Deep History as the Discussant.