Post-Carbon Futures in a Fact-Challenged Present

Humanities at Large

Rescheduled from March 21

April 4, 2018 (Wednesday) / 5:00 pm—6:30 pm

Williams Hall, 6th Floor, Humanities Conference Room, 255 S. 36th St

Post-Carbon Futures in a Fact-Challenged Present

Teach-in 2018

Brian Black

Distinguished Professor of History and Environmental Studies
Penn State Altoona

Christine Knapp

Director, City of Philadelphia Office of Sustainability

John Quigley

Director, Center for Environment, Energy, and Economy
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH

Physicians for Social Responsibility

 

Moderated by Bethany Wiggin, Associate Professor of German, Founding Director, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities


Presented by Penn Program in Environmental Humanities

 

Domestic American politics have long played a role in climate negotiations, including in the current federal administration’s announced plan to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. In contrast to the guarded optimism of climate change activists after COP21 in Paris, the emotional climate after the recent COP23 in Bonn was notably gloomy.

Nonetheless, state and city leaders insist #WeAreStillIn, the hashtag used by a coalition of 2,500 leaders from city halls, state houses, boardrooms, and college campuses. who have signed the “We Are Still In” declaration. In the vacuum created by a lack of federal leadership, this coalition and others are organizing across local contexts to bring about a systematic response to urgent environmental issues.

As we study and engage the present and future of the carbon economy, this roundtable brings together experts on energy transitions past and present as well as energy and health policy at the state and local level.

Reception to immediately follow hosted by the Wolf Humanities Center.

More Information

 

TEACH-IN 2018

It is no secret that in a time of a great burgeoning of knowledge we also face in the body politic a growing unease about epistemology, the provenance of knowledge, and the course of the Academy. Faced with these troubled times, Penn’s Faculty Senate is organising an unprecedented pan-university Teach-In on the rigours of knowledge creation, the difficulties encountered in communicating it, and the use to which it is put and how it can impact society. The effort spans all of Penn’s twelve schools in a collective endeavour by staff, students, and faculty, and we are opening our borders to invite the civic community, schools, local organisations, and policy makers, both in Philadelphia and in our capitals, into our campus to be a part of this dialogue. A half-century after the campus teach-ins during the social unrest of the ‘60s, it seemed entirely appropriate that we recreate a community dialogue on knowledge and the role of the Academy: how should the university engage with the community and the nation in the 21st century? This historic faculty-sponsored initiative will take place during March 18–22, 2018.

Cosponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Faculty Senate, the Wolf Humanities Center, and Penn Sustainability.

 

 

TEACH-IN 2018

It is no secret that in a time of a great burgeoning of knowledge we also face in the body politic a growing unease about epistemology, the provenance of knowledge, and the course of the Academy. Faced with these troubled times, Penn’s Faculty Senate is organising an unprecedented pan-university Teach-In on the rigours of knowledge creation, the difficulties encountered in communicating it, and the use to which it is put and how it can impact society. The effort spans all of Penn’s twelve schools in a collective endeavour by staff, students, and faculty, and we are opening our borders to invite the civic community, schools, local organisations, and policy makers, both in Philadelphia and in our capitals, into our campus to be a part of this dialogue. A half-century after the campus teach-ins during the social unrest of the ‘60s, it seemed entirely appropriate that we recreate a community dialogue on knowledge and the role of the Academy: how should the university engage with the community and the nation in the 21st century? This historic faculty-sponsored initiative will take place during March 18–22, 2018.