Our engagement with the environment: History and art in the Americas

In the Spring the University of East Anglia was due to hold a public lecture series on the ‘Future of the Americas.’ This was cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

One of the lectures was going to explore the future of the environment. We took the opportunity to hold the session ‘virtually’, by bringing together three speakers in our latest podcast episodes. Dr Hazel Marsh (UEA), Prof Susan Oliver (Essex) and Prof Karen Jones (Kent) explore our relationship with the environment, firstly in a historic context, and then in an artistic one.

• Episode 6: ‘The Myth of Hyperabundance.’ The indigenous peoples of the Americas saw themselves as an integral part of the environment, and had a strong respect for it. This changed with the arrival and conquest of the settlers, when the environment was seen as a resource to be used and exploited. Listen to the podcast in full here. 
• Episode 7: ‘There is no revolution without songs.’ In this episode we look at the artistic and creative response to the environment, from the artists who highlight the climate crisis and the disappearance of the ice in the arctic, to the way in which researchers use art to engage with displaced people in Colombia. Listen to the podcast in full here