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Imagining Climate Change

All ICC Events (2015–24)

A complete list of ICC speakers (2015–23) is available here

2023–24

“Apocalyptic Species” (March 19)

Robert T. Walker on where we belong…

“Night of Ideas 2024” (Feb. 29)

Listening to islands and peninsulas…

“Getting to Know You” (Feb. 15)

Anne McConnell on Belgian philosopher Vinciane Despret’s study of interspecies knowledge practices.…

“Artists as Second Responders: Three Stories” (Oct. 18)

Artists and culture bearers are among the leaders of our most inventive and regenerative responses to environmental crisis and injustice.…

2022–23

“Response & Recovery: An Artists’ Talk” (July 23)

’Artists and culture bearers support recovery from all kinds of disasters…

“Proje SU: The Soul of Water” with Margaret Ross Tolbert (April 12)

In Southern Türkiye, there is a woman who lives in the springs. Her name is Leto. We are looking for her…

“Learning to Live with Climate Change” with Blanche Verlie (March 29)

Climate change is a deeply distressing phenomenon; yet this distress can also be generative, offering opportunities to reconsider and reimagine destructive ways of living…

“Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land” with Taylor Brorby (Feb. 21)

“I am a child of the American West, a landscape so rich and wide that my culture trembles with terror before its power…”

“Indigenous Peoples & Partnerships in the Brazilian Amazon” with Chief Afukaká (Feb. 15)

The Paramount Chief of the Kuikuro Indigenous Nation, on working together across cultural, social, and political boundaries to help envision brighter futures for indigenous peoples…

“Ecomusicology & Relational Listening in the Music of Lionel Loueke” with Sarah Politz (Dec. 6)

Sacred sound, interdependence, and the more-than-human in the Beninese guitarist’s work…

Silent Running (Oct. 13)

A 50th anniversary public screening of Douglas Trumbull’s landmark 1972 eco-science fiction film.

“Can We Have Reproductive Justice in a Climate Crisis?” with Jade Sasser (Sept. 20)

Gender & Sexuality Studies scholar Jade Sasser asks, “In an era of ongoing climate crisis, how can movements for reproductive justice and climate justice align?”

2021–22

“Performing Resiliance / For the Birds” with Meghan Moe Beitiks & Kenya (Robinson) (April 14)

Artists Meghan Moe Beitiks and Kenya (Robinson) on how experiences of marginalization may produce ecological wisdom.

Latin American Writes Back 2.0 (Oct. 21–22)

Scholars and writers shaping the future of Latin American SF confront the challenges of changing climate and the paths to a more sustainable, resilient, and just world.

“Hope Matters”: A Conversation with Elin Kelsey (Sept. 17)

Activist, scholar, and educator Elin Kelsey on changing the way we think about environmental crisis.

“Ecopoetics of Reenchantment” with Bénédicte Meillon (Aug. 26)

Ecopoetics scholar Bénédicte Meillon on interspecies magic and restoring our capacity for wonder.

“Plant Life” (Aug. 3, 2021 – Feb. 20, 2022)

An exhibition at UF’s Harn Museum of Art showcasing the strange entanglements of humans and plants.

2020–21

“Fly Me to the Moon” with Esther Figueroa (March 23–29)

Filmmaker, novelist, and environmental activist Esther Figueroa discusses the creation of credible futures for Planet Earth.

Jeanne Ewert and Kenneth Sassaman on “Climate Catastrophe & the Vulnerability of Memory” (March 17)

Jeanne Ewert and Kenneth Sassaman describe communities tragically transformed by the 1896 and 1900 Cedar Keys and Galveston Hurricanes…

PIEC 27: “Equitable Transitions” (Feb. 12–13)

For 27 years, the Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) has sought to promote an understanding of the legal aspects of environmental protection.

Sarah Jaquette Ray on “How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet” (Nov. 19)

Sarah Jaquette Ray offers an “existential toolkit” for the climate generation.

Dorothy Ko, Andréa Zhouri, Edward B. Barbier, and Frances Roberts-Gregory on “Global-Cultural Environmental Justice” (Oct. 13, 20, 27 & 29)

In this three-week webinar series, historians, anthropologists, and economists Ko, Zhouri, Barbier, and Roberts-Gregory will discuss the challenges and opportunities for economic, cultural, and social justice  in a time of acute global environmental and health crisis.

Sarah Jornsay-Silverberg, Aimee Lewis-Reau, and LaUra Schmidt on “Feeling & Healing Through the Anthropocene” (Sept. 23)

Activists and ecogrief workers Sarah Jornsay-Silverberg, Aimee Lewis-Reau, and LaUra Schmidt discuss inspiration and agency in tumultous times.

2019–20

Madhur Anand on “Poetry & Science in An Age of Unraveling” (Feb. 18 & 19)

Ecologist and poet Madhur Anand will give a scientific talk and a reading of her published and new poetry and creative non-fiction.

“Decolonizing Representations: Past, Present & Future” (Oct. 25 & Feb. 7)

Free workshops for faculty, students, and community members who want to use digital tools to re-imagine UF’s past and future.

PIEC 26: “The Rights of Nature” (Feb. 6–8)

For 26 years, the Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) has sought to promote an understanding of the legal aspects of environmental protection.

Erin Prophet on “Religion, Rhetoric & Climate Change” (Feb. 5)

Religion scholar Erin Prophet asks, what can be learned from the study of religion about motivating climate action?

“Decolonizing Knowledge: Indigenous Theories in Latin American and U.S. Empire Studies” (Jan. 30–31)

In the last decade indigenous studies have emerged as a crucial theoretical site for understanding and critiquing the settler colonial present.

“Emerging Forms” (Dec. 6)

The Inaugural UF Graduate Student Climate Fiction Symposium features presentations and readings by PhD and MFA students working in the emerging genres of climate fiction, –poetry, and –film.

Deborah Scheuer on “The Climate Crisis & Its Solutions” (Nov. 21)

Climate activist Deborah Scheuer on reaching beyond the fear and finding truth in action.

Susanne Götze on “Walls in the Head” (Nov. 13 & 14)

Journalist Susanne Götze asks, Where, exactly, are the barriers to global action on climate change?

Shannon Lee Dawdy on “The Politics of Disaster Debris” (Nov. 12)

Anthropologist Shannon Lee Dawdy asks, Will archaeologists of the future interpret disaster landfills as monumental structures?

Temiti Lehartel on “An Impossible Dialectic” (Oct. 22)

Pacific Island literature scholar & environmental activist Temiti Lehartel on climate fiction and indigenous struggle in Australia.

Terry Harpold on “Lessons Learned” (Sept. 12)

ICC Director Terry Harpold on successes and missteps of the initiative’s first four years.

Houston R. Cypress on “Scintillating Sovereignties”(Aug. 8)

Reverend Cypress of the Miccosukee Tribe wants to protect and revitalize the sacred lands of the Everglades.

“Climate Crisis: An Intergenerational Discussion” (Aug. 8)

We must work together to prepare everyone for the world to come.

2018-19

Karolina Sobecka and Jamie Allen on “This Cycle, Here, This One” (Feb. 11)

Artist-researchers Sobecka and Allen discuss the use and abuse of cycles as models of exchange and circulation.

PIEC 25: “Embracing the Anthropocene” (Feb. 7–9)

For 25 years, the Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) has sought to promote an understanding of the legal aspects of environmental protection.

“Our Children’s Trust: Youth Activism & the Legal Right to a Stable Climate” (Feb. 6)

Isaac Augspurg (age 13) and Oscar Psychas (age 20) are two of eight youth plaintiffs suing the state of Florida to protect current and future generations from the intensifying impacts of climate change. 

Jimmy Evans & Jack Edmondson on “Urban Paradise” (Nov. 14)

What will become of Miami? Filmmakers Evans and Edmondson’s Urban Paradise explores the realities of future sea level rise in South Florida.

Simon Richter on “‘Polder-Geist’ and the Languages of Sustainability” (Nov. 13–14)

Simon Richter asks, Can the Dutch save our coastal cities? How do we translate the concept of sustainability?

“The World to Come: Art, Politics & Climate Change” (Oct. 19–20)

An interdisciplinary symposium on art, scientific fieldwork, and anthropological research in response to the greatest planetary crisis of our era.

Marisol de la Cadena on “Uncommoning Nature” (Oct. 19)

A conversation with Marisol de la Cadena on building alliances of divergent interests.

“The World to Come: Art in the Age of the Anthropocene” (Sept. 18, 2018–March 3, 2019)

In an international exhibition at the Harn Museum of Art, forty-five contemporary international artists chronicle an era of rapid, radical, and irrevocable ecological change.

2017–18

Nicole Starosielski and Casey Boyle on “In Ecomedia Res” (Feb. 28)

Ecocritics Starosielski and Boyle will discuss digital heat and the end of time. On March 1, UF’s EcoTour augmented reality walking tour of Paynes Prairie will debut.

Jorge Volpi, Pedro Ángel Palou, and Eloy Urroz on “The Responsibilities of Literature in the Late Anthropocene” (Feb. 23)

Mexican novelists Volpi, Palou, and Urroz, will discuss the role of the literary imagination and the responsibilities of the writer in an age of economic, political, and ecological crises.

Schuyler Esprit on “Ecologies and Institutions” (Nov. 17)

Schuyler Esprit will discuss the missions of the redefining digital humanities and educational institutions in the Caribbean in the ware of Hurricanes Irma and Marie.

Helen Hughes on “The Contexts of Climate Change” (Nov. 6–7)

Film scholar Helen Hughes will discuss “Glaciers, Nuclear Power & Documentary Film in Europe.”

Helmuth Trischler and Franz Mauelshagen on “The Past & Future of the Anthropocene” (Oct. 23–24)

Helmuth Trischler and Franz Mauelshagen will discuss the concept of and prognosis for the “human epoch.”

Oonya Kempadoo on “Which Medium? Whose Story?” (Sept. 22)

On September 22, Oonya Kempadoo will speak on storytelling, collaborative digital humanities, and environmental sustainability in the Caribbean.

2016-17

Stephen Mulkey on “Higher Education During the Great Disruption” (April 13)

Stephen Mulkey will speak on the imperative need to reimagine higher education in a time of climate crisis.

Julian Chambliss on “Future Bear” (Feb. 23)

Julian Chambliss (Rollins College) will speak on the role of digital humanities in teaching, service, and scholarship, and “Future Bear,” a hybrid fine art/comic that engages young people in positive action on climate change.

Aaron Thier on “Mr. Eternity” (Feb. 15)

Novelist Aaron Thier will give a reading from his celebrated climate fiction novel Mr. Eternity and discuss the opportunities and responsibilities of writing fiction in an age of climate crisis.

“The World is Dying and We’re Filming It” (Dec. 11)

Please join us for a free screening of fourteen original short films by the students of UF instructor Lauren DeFilippo’s Fall 2016 course “Creating the Cinema of Climate Change.”

2015-16

Wanuri Kahiu on “Pumzi” (March 15)

A public screening of the 2009 sf film short Pumzi and a conversation with the film’s Kenyan director, Wanuri Kahiu.

Spring 2016 ICC Colloquium (Feb. 17–18)

The Spring 2016 colloquium will overlap with the UF Water Institute’s 5th Biennial Symposium, a major event in the field of water research and management. The colloquium will kick off on the final day of the Water Institute Symposium (Feb. 17) with a plenary roundtable discussion featuring the invited speakers, followed by a second day of individual public talks by the invited speakers and UF faculty respondents (Feb. 18.)

Fall 2015 ICC Colloquium (Oct. 9–10)

The inaugural Fall 2015 ICC colloquium will bring French and American science fiction authors and climate scientists to the University of Florida to dialogue with UF faculty and researchers in the humanities, climate studies, and water management, and to explore new ways of representing and responding to environmental change.

All ICC events are free and open to the public. No advance registration is required.