The Nature of Change

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The Nature of Change

Exploring humanity’s response to an evolving Earth

Life has existed on Earth for at least 3.5 billion years, and in 2019 humans stand firmly at the top of what used to be a more natural order. We may have achieved remarkable societal evolution, but we’ve done so at great cost to our ecology and climate. Now facing rising seas, melting glaciers, and disappearing species and ecosystems, humans have choices to make about the future of the planet.

While there is no easy path forward, proponents of change assert that humans must first reconsider our belief that there is a division between us and nature if we’re to achieve a more sustainable future. Three CLA professors share their forward-looking work in the context of two questions: What is our relationship to nature? And how do we make sense of our connection to the physical world as we face the challenges of our changing Earth?

By Meelah Maynard (BA '91, political science)

KURT KIPFMUELLER, GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT & SOCIETY

Creating Resilient Forests

If we don’t intervene, the red pine forests in the Boundary Waters will be gone and other species will take their place.

Looking Within to See Beyond

CHRISTINE MARRAN, ASIAN & MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES

In 1970, a Japanese farmer remarking on his fertilizer and pesticide use said, ‘I used to think nature was out there, but now I realize it’s within me.’

DAVID VALENTINE, ANTHROPOLOGY

Leaving Earth Behind

Valentine believes it will take a new kind of imagination if humans are ever to move into space. And it’s the same kind of imagination we need right here on Earth if we are going to do anything meaningful about climate change.

CLA’s Environmental Humanities Initiative

As our climate rapidly changes, it’s abundantly clear that it will take thinkers from many different disciplines to effect real global change. That’s why, in fall 2017, Christine Marran teamed up with Charlotte Melin, professor and chair of the Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch; and Dan Philippon, associate professor in the Department of English, to launch CLA’s Environmental Humanities Initiative (EHI).

While all three professors routinely examine environmental issues through their own disciplines, their goal with EHI is to create a lasting platform for graduate students from across the University who are interested in working on eco-critical issues. “We’re still building the initiative, but it’s encouraging that so many graduate students are interested in this,” Marran says. “Some people in the sciences have told me they wish they could do a better job of speaking about what’s at stake environmentally, and I know as a humanist that I need to know my science. Environments remind us that they don’t care about disciplinary boundaries.”

Learn more at envhum.umn.edu.