*One of seven watercolor paintings capturing the data of Climate Change by Jill Pelto
What elements make for successful environmental activism and initiate policy change? What can we learn from such movements going forward? How and why is art an empowering vehicle for such activism? In this course we will review the history of global environmental movements and actions through the lens of environmental activism + the arts (“artivism”). Through readings, lectures, seminar-style discussions, research, and field trips we will study specific themes and projects of select environmental movements here and abroad. Our investigations will bring us to topics on eco-feminism with Vandana Shiva (India), biodynamic farming with Rudolph Steiner and Joseph Beuys (Germany), bird and river ecology with Ben Watt (U.K.), and the regenerating of urban spaces with Maya Lin (USA). Through our studies we will begin to locate ourselves within the larger context of global environmentalism and practices by deepening our understanding of the well-known slogan “Think Globally. Act Locally.”
- Instructor: Eugenia Mitsanas