The global context of climate change, the idea of the Anthropocene, and the historical fights of diverse populations around land rights and natural resources demand that humans revise their understandings of notions such as ‘nature’ and ‘environment.’ Environmental Humanities is a field that brings together critical tools and approaches from various disciplines. Built upon the noteworthy and decades-long research of disciplines such as history, philosophy, literature, and the arts, the Environmental Humanities further advance the idea that the environmental crisis and its challenges are intricately related to political, social, and cultural factors.
Environmental problems have been primarily studied by the environmental sciences through evidence-based data. Economic, political, historical, and cultural dimensions of the environment have long been considered secondary by the scientific discourse. The Environmental Humanities then aim to complement environmental science approaches, which, although necessary, are not enough. The Environmental Humanities consider the study of human values, political discourses, and social practices as fundamental.
The Environmental Humanities thus seek to cultivate a new mode of scholarly inquiry. The field is interdisciplinary and plural by definition, and it believes that these characteristics are needed in sustainability discourse and public policies. Finally, it also fosters an internal critique of academic humanistic disciplines and calls for the inclusion of voices and perspectives from underrepresented peoples who have always reflected on, interacted with, and defended their environments.
In collaboration with undergraduate and graduate students, LAEH Lab aims to inventively embrace this thriving field and circulate content that links scholarly research, public humanities, institutional efforts, local activisms, and cultural interventions.
