Welcome to the Anthropocene: Living Together in a More-Than-Human World: In our era of global climate change, the privileged position of the human has come under scrutiny. Humans have become such a powerful force on the planet, scientists argue, that they leave a trace on the surface on the earth. To frame discussions about the environmental impact of human activities, such as species extinction and the ecosystem destruction, scholars have proposed the term Anthropocene to describe a new geological epoch. Researchers in the social sciences and humanities use this frame to investigate the entanglements of humans and nature, while many argue that ‘the Human’ as a universal category fails to grasp the inequalities of contemporary society. The course Welcome to the Anthropocene invites you to explore art works, films, and texts from different disciplines that challenge us to think about how to live together on a damaged planet in a technologically-mediated world. As we become increasingly aware of the effects of anthropogenic climate change, scholars and observers are asking the big question: Who and what should be considered part of the social collective? Guided by the concern for a sustainable future––environmentally as much as ethically––we will learn to notice and care for the more-than-human world around us.
- Teacher: Katrin Pesch