Exploring Ecologies in Practice and Environmental Humanities
Sponsored by Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Recorded on 07/03/2024
Posted in The Authority File
Episode 391
The coeditors of Ecologies in Practice: Environmentally Engaged Arts in Canada, Elysia French, Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University, and Amanda White, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Curating in the Department of Visual Art at Western University, join the program discuss the organization, development, and geographical focus of their book and the possibilities of action-oriented art. Covering specific contributions, the term “environmentally engaged art,” and the impact of art on policy and progress, this series dives into the current landscape of Environmental Humanities and the potential of cross-disciplinary partnerships.
In the first episode of this four-part series, Elysia and Amanda share their research interests and how their friendship in the academy lead to Ecologies in Practice. They also describe the Environmental Humanities, explaining how the field creates collaborative spaces for interdisciplinary approaches to the arts and environmental studies. Next, Amanda and Elysia analyze how their backgrounds influence their work. As a practicing artist, Amanda has knowledge of the process of artmaking, while Elysia, an art historian, critically engages with art, measuring social, political, and environmental impacts. Both, however, share an interest in artist-scholars, with that intersection made explicit in the title.
About the guests:
Elysia French
Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Arts
Brock University
Elysia French is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University. French is trained as an art historian and studies contemporary art and the environment, with an interest in the visual culture of oil, climate change, and multispecies relationships.
Amanda White
SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Curating, Department of Visual Art
Western University
Amanda White (she/her) is a white settler artist/scholar currently living and working in Tkaronto/Toronto. She is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Curating in the Department of Visual Art at Western University. Her current work and research is focused on plants, food, and environmental justice. Learn more on Amanda’s website.
Enjoy the conversation? Listen to the rest of the series:
- Environmentally Engaged Arts, Calls to Action, and Canadian Case Studies in Ecologies in Practice
- Themes of Interruption, Interpretation, and Gathering in Ecologies in Practice
- How Art Changes Culture and the (Interdisciplinary) Future of the Environmental Humanities
Check out our previous series with Wilfrid Laurier University Press:
– Outlining the “Big, Big Tent” of Comics Studies
– The Contemporary Leonard Cohen
– Creative Disruption in Scholarship
– Performing Female Blackness
– Canadian Poetry Today
Missed an episode? We’ve got you covered:
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, Choice Podcast Updates!
Check out the Authority File Round-Up on our blog, Open Stacks!
Find the episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Google Podcasts.
Sponsored by:
