Global EARTH Scholars come together online on Thursday 18th July to Tackle Climate Crisis Through Arts & Humanities.

•  Global collaboration on climate crisis: July 18. The 2024 EARTH scholars will come together in an online event to present their research findings in a day-long series of panels and talks, open to the public, showcasing their work.

Online via Zoom, Thursday July 18th, 9:40am - 4:30pm (BST)

RSVP HERE

Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH) and British Council Scotland awarded 13 EARTH scholarships earlier this year to early-career researchers from 10 countries including France, Switzerland, India, New Zealand and South Africa. For the past three months, the scholars have been busy in Scotland collaborating with their counterparts at Higher Education Institutions across the country.

At the culmination of their placements, the EARTH Scholars will showcase their research through a series of online panels and talks on Thursday 18th July, where each scholar in turn will present their work in the environmental Arts & Humanities.

The full programme will last 9:40am to 4:30pm BST with the same Zoom Link for each panel. Attendance is Free and open to all, and attendees are welcome to drop in and out for as many panels as they wish.

The EARTH Scholarships have been designed to address the climate emergency from a new angle, encouraging global and interdisciplinary collaborations with a focus on environmental sustainability themes and the interventions of the Arts & Humanities. Projects this year have ranged from ‘the use of insecticides in the late Middle Ages and early modern period’, through to ‘building climate resilience among smallholders and communities in South Africa’, to ‘geological remediation of fossil fuel infrastructures in Glasgow’.

The EARTH Scholars are excited to drive awareness and shift perceptions about the role of arts and humanities in facing the climate crisis.

Krista Collier-Jarvis from Canada, (Dalhousie University) studying at Edinburgh Napier University, spoke about bringing her research across the Atlantic:

"The EARTH Scholarships programme provided me the opportunity to build dialogue other PhD researchers in the Scottish context. I’ve found brilliant approaches here in and there is an authentic desire to find solutions to the climate emergency. Through events like Global Connects, we hope to expand how Scotland and future researchers approach the climate crisis."

Poulomi Choudhury from Ireland, (University College Dublin / University of Edinburgh) added about her research into representations of horror fiction:

"The EARTH Scholarship programme has been an incredibly enriching experience for my PhD research into literary horror fiction centred around the abattoir and representations of cannibalism. It has not only allowed me to engage deeply with my ongoing work at the University of Edinburgh but has also significantly enhanced my understanding of the Indian literary works I am analysing. The programme has helped me foster dialogue and collaboration, inspiring innovative and critical thinking to address the climate crisis."

Wonah Odey from Stirling (University of Stirling) concluded:

"Participating as an EARTH Scholar has allowed me to delve deeper into the cultural and environmental implications of AI technologies. This programme provides a unique platform to engage with scholars and experts from really diverse disciplines, fostering a holistic understanding of how AI intersects with environmental sustainability. This experience has equipped me with a deeper understanding of the environmental impact of AI, and it’s also given me valuable connections with peers and mentors in Scotland and beyond”.

To see the Full Programme and to RSVP, please see details of the full event here.

For more details on the EARTH Scholarships, see here

Full programme

9.40-9.45 Welcome from Professor Claire Squires, Director of SGSAH

Panel: Climate (Crisis) Chair: Gwenffrewi Morgan (University of St Andrews)

09:45-10:00 Tilak Tewari (Victoria University/University of St Andrews) - The Climate of Nineteenth Century Medicine: Miasma, Meteorology, and Mountains (Prerecorded)

10:00-10:15 Sindi-Leigh McBride (University of Basel/University of Edinburgh) - Elemental Solidarity

10:15-10:30 Laura Pannekoek (Concordia University/University of Glasgow) - Geocultures after Coal: Geological Remediation of Fossil Fuel Infrastructures in Glasgow 

10:30-10:45 Questions/Discussion

BREAK (10:45-11:15)

Panel: People and Landscapes Chair: Ciara Bolton (University of Edinburgh)

11:15-11:30 Sidney Muhangi Rhodes (University/University of Strathclyde) - The art of enhancing farmer's adaptive capacities to climate: leveraging arts-based approaches

11:30-11:45 Luke Kaplan Rhodes (University/University of Strathclyde) - Exile and Shadow

11:45-12:00 Emily MacCallum (University of Toronto/University of Aberdeen) - Music, Sound, and Landscapes as British Cultural and Material Resource, c. 1900-1927 (Prerecorded)

12:00-12:15 Questions/Discussion

BREAK (12:15-13:30)

Panel: Water Chair: Rebecca Cornwell (University of the Highlands & Islands)

13:30-13:45 Kamila Mamadnazarbekova Sorbonne (University/University of Glasgow) - Banks of Clyde: Performing Waterscapes with a Steamboat

13:45-14:00 Krista Collier-Jarvis Dalhousie (University/Mount Saint Vincent University/Edinburgh Napier University) - TransAtlantic Fluidities: Lochs and Bogs

14:00-14:15 Nabanita Samanta (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay/University of Edinburgh) - Offshore Anthropocene, Archipelagic Affordances: Infrastructure, Imaginaries, and (Re)making Futures

14:15-14:30 Aphiwe Moshani (University of Cape Town/University of Strathclyde) - Balancing the Tide: Safeguarding International Human Rights of Rural small-scale fisher women in South African ocean governance

14:30-14:45 Questions/Discussion

BREAK (14:45-15:15)

Panel: Non-Human Animals Chair: Sarah Bresnahan (University of Glasgow)

15:15-15:30 Zaellotius (Zee) Wilson (Arizona State University/University of Strathclyde) - The Fly on the Alchemist’s Wall Understanding Insecticides in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Periods

15:30-15:45 Poulomi Choudhury (University College Dublin/University of Edinburgh) - Exploring Horrors of Class, Caste, and Alienation in India’s Meat Production

15:45-16:00 Salomé Dehaut (University of Grenoble Alpes/University of Aberdeen) - Storying Rewilding in Scotland: A Journey into Contemporary Fiction and Real-Life Narratives

16:00-16:15 Question/Discussion

16:15-16:30 Final Remarks

16:30 CLOSE


RSVP HERE

First published: 15 March 2024