Reading Seminar on The Environmental Crisis, Education and Communication With Peter Sutoris

Details

With Peter Sutoris
Organized by Martin Chautari

Course Description:
From climate change to biodiversity, the environmental multi-crisis has come to dominate conversations about the world’s shared future both in and out of academia. This seminar brings the analytical power of anthropology, sociology and related disciplines to ask: What can the social sciences teach us about how to tackle environmental destruction? What are the key conversations about climate change, biodiversity loss and other crises among social scientists? What do these debates teach us about the role of education and public communication in tackling the environmental crisis? We will focus on key social science concepts including ‘the Anthropocene’, ‘slow violence’, and ‘petropedagogy’ in discussing the nuances and complexities of the environmental crisis—and how educators and journalists might best communicate this complexity.

Peter Sutoris is an Assistant Professor in Education and Social Justice at University of York, United Kingdom. He holds a PhD from Cambridge University, UK and a BA from Dartmouth College, USA. He is the author of books Visions of Development (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Educating for the Anthropocene (MIT Press, 2022), a co-editor of the journal Compare, and member of editorial collectives of Degrowth Journal and Decolonial Subversions.

Seminar Dates: August 15 (Tuesday), August 17 (Thursday), August 24 (Thursday), August 31 (Thursday).

Time: 11:00–13:00

Venue: Martin Chautari Seminar Hall, Thapathali, Kathmandu.

Course Fee: NRs. 2,000

Eligibility Requirements: (i) Preferably (but not necessary) MA degree in the social science or any other allied courses; (ii) You should be willing to do all the assigned readings and come to the seminar prepared to discuss them (see below for details); (iii) You should be able to read English proficiently.

Application Process: Please submit a 500-word essay (in English or Nepali) explaining (a) your research experiences and interests; and (b) how taking this seminar fits into your current and future academic plans. Please also include a one-page CV of yours with full contact details including your current email address and telephone numbers. For online applications, please fill up this Google Form and attach the requested essay and CV as indicated in the form. You can also submit the above in person at MC’s office (27 Jeet Jung Marg, Thapathali, Kathmandu) in a closed envelope that states “Application for the Reading Seminar on The Environmental Crisis, Education and Communication” on the front side. The application deadline is August 8, 2023. Successful applicants will be notified by August 9, 2023. They will have to enroll by August 12, 2023 by paying the course fee to Martin Chautari. Soft copies of the reading materials will be provided after the payment.

Successful applicants can make the payment either in cash at the front desk of Martin Chautari during office hours, or they can pay it electronically (via e-Sewa id 9848867217).

For further information, please contact:
Martin Chautari
Tel: 5338050, 4102027, 4102243
Email: chautari1991@gmail.com; chautari@mos.com.np 
Website: www.martinchautari.org.np

Reading Schedule

Class 1. The Anthropocene
Malm, Andreas, and Alf Hornborg. ‘The Geology of Mankind? A Critique of the Anthropocene Narrative’. The Anthropocene Review 1, no. 1 (2014): 62–69.
Maniates, Michael F. ‘Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?’ Global Environmental Politics 1, no. 3 (August 2001): 31–52.
Sutoris, Peter. Educating for the Anthropocene: Schooling and Activism in the Face of Slow Violence: Introduction. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2022.

Class 2. Slow violence
Ahmann, Chloe. ‘“It’s Exhausting to Create an Event out of Nothing”: Slow Violence and the Manipulation of Time’. Cultural Anthropology 33, no. 1 (22 February 2018): 142–71.
Das Gupta, Sanjukta. ‘Indigeneity and Violence: The Adivasi Experience in Eastern India’. International Review of Sociology 30, no. 2 (3 May 2020): 232–48.
Nixon, Rob. Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor: Introduction (pp. 1-44). Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011.

Class 3. Education
Eaton, Emily M., and Nick A. Day. ‘Petro-Pedagogy: Fossil Fuel Interests and the Obstruction of Climate Justice in Public Education’. Environmental Education Research 26, no. 4 (2 April 2020): 457–73.
Jickling, Bob. ‘Why I Don’t Want My Children to Be Educated for Sustainable Development’. Trumpeter 11, no. 3 (1994): 114–16.
Misiaszek, Greg William. ‘Ecopedagogy as an Element of Citizenship Education: The Dialectic of Global/Local Spheres of Citizenship and Critical Environmental Pedagogies’. International Review of Education 62, no. 5 (1 October 2016): 587–607.

Class 4. Communication
Ghosh, Amitav. The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable: Section I Stories (pp. 1-84). New Delhi: Penguin, 2016.
Roy, Arundhati. The Greater Common Good. Frontline 16, Issue 11 (May 22-June 4, 1999).