The Cultures of the Anthropocene Working Group is housed in and funded by the Humanities Institute. We bring together scholars to think through some of the broader problems of the Anthropocene–periodization, geologic life, extraction and fossil fuel futures, the relation of human and nonhuman natures, the dilation of temporal and spatial scales of analysis, and the aesthetics of the Anthropocene. We are keen to maintain a focus on specific sites, cultural histories, and aesthetic practices that might not be so easily accommodated to the grand narratives and large historical sweep of the Anthropocene. As such our engagement with these themes will demand participants to remember race, sexuality, location, political economy, and subjectivity. The “anthropos” therefore will be a central target of our analysis and critique.
Please contact one of the conveners for more information: Thomas Davis (davis.3186@osu.edu); Mary Thomas (thomas.1672@osu.edu); Max Woodworth (woodworth.42@osu.edu).