(Re)growing a Living Culture 

Bi-Co Environmental Studies Speaker Series

Ecology, Arts, and Survival: Suparna Choudhury, Dougald Hine, Li Sumpter

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

4:30-6 pm

VCAM Screening Room

In an era of ecological uncertainty and cultural crisis, how can the arts and humanities contribute to our collective survival? Join us for a dynamic conversation with Suparna Choudhury, Dougald Hine, and Li Sumpter—three thinkers and practitioners who explore the intersections of ecology, arts, and collective resilience.

Suparna Choudhury is a cognitive scientist, interdisciplinary researcher and writer who investigates how cultural, environmental, and physiological factors shape human experience. Dougald Hine (co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project, and co-founder with Anna Björkman of a school called HOME) is a writer and educator whose work challenges dominant narratives of progress and advocates for a deeper connection to the natural world. Li Sumpter, PhD, is a mythologist and artist who uses storytelling and speculative design to envision alternative futures and strategies for survival.

Their conversation will center on how grounded, intentional, and creative practices can offer new ways of understanding our relationship with the planet; what it means to stare into the abyss – and how we might see out the other side; and how the arts and the humanities can inspire resilience in the face of crises by imagining futures that honor both human and non-human life. This conversation will be an opportunity for all in attendance to reflect on our own role in responding to the complex challenges of our time.

Suggested reading:

Dougald Hine, At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics and All the Other Emergencies (2024). Copies of Hine’s book will be available for purchase at this event and are available through his publisher, Chelsea Green: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/at-work-in-the-ruins/ 

Read an excerpt here: https://worldoftopia.com/at-work-in-the-ruins-dougald-hine/ (via Topia magazine)

Organized by the Bi-Co Environmental Studies Program

Contact: Dylan Gauthier dgauthier [at] haverford.edu

Sponsored by the Bi-Co Department of Environmental Studies, the Distinguished Visitors Program, The Uncertainty Academy, and the John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities