The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life will present a roundtable discussion featuring Willis Jenkins, “The Sparrow, the Swarm, the Crossing: How Understanding Religion Matters for Confronting Anthropocene Challenges,” at UCSB’s Robertson Gym 1000A on February 12, 2024, at 4:30pm. This event is free and open to the public.
Understanding human dimensions of planetary challenges requires understanding religious dimensions of being human. This roundtable talk illustrates how knowledge about extinctions and biodiversity loss can be advanced through research with three different conceptions of religion. Working from sites of grounded, multispecies research on the Virginia coast, the examples suggest ways toward more fully integrating cultural inquiry into environmental change research.
Dr. Willis Jenkins is John Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. Jenkins writes along intersections of ethics, religion, and environment, including The Future of Ethics, which won an American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion. Current research focuses on climate justice and ethics amidst extinctions and biodiversity loss. Jenkins also co-directs the Coastal Futures Conservatory which integrates arts and humanities into coastal change research at the Virginia Coast Reserve Long-Term Ecological Research site.
Dr. Jenkins will engage with Dr. Lisa Sideris (Environmental Studies) and Dr. Mayfair Yang (Religious Studies) to think about the intersections of religion, extinction, and climate change.
The lecture is part of a series of events on the theme of Nature, Ethics, and Technology, organized by Professor Lisa H. Sideris and co-sponsored by the Department of Environmental Studies, the Walter H. Capps Center, and the Center for Humanities and Social Change.
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Lecture/Talk/Discussion/Panel/Q&A
UCSB Robertson Gym