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Tag Archives: Environment
Green Imperialism
Environmental historian Richard Grove [NHC Fellow 1995-96] discusses his book, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens, and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860, an account of environmentalism with special reference to islands as metaphors of Western thought. At the time of this interview, Grove was a research associate at the Australian National University and coordinator of the Global Environmental History Unit at the University of Cambridge.
American Legend
Pete Seeger enjoys almost legendary status for millions of Americans. But he says that over the years the motives for his music and his activism have remained true to the local wellsprings of concern for children, care for the environment, and individual responsibility. He and Michael Honey, a recent scholar in residence at the National Humanities Center, spoke and sang about his (Seeger’s) life and artistry.
Social engines
Mark Seltzer discusses Bodies and Machines (Routledge), his new book about the intersection of the natural and the mechanical. Cecelia Tichi discusses Electronic Hearth (Oxford University Press), her book about television as an environment in American society.
The World Economy and the World’s Forest–an Historical Overview
Scholars have only recently begun to examine environmental issues (such as deforestation) in cumulative, historical terms. And historians are now examining the environment as a manifestation of cultural inter-dependence with social and political, as well as economic consequences, particularly with regard to Third World societies. What is the status of the world’s forests? How has this crucial environmental condition evolved, and what are its likely social, cultural, and economic effects?
American Environmental History Part 2; Environment and Business in America
In the formulation of environmental policy at national and local levels, what is the proper balance between private enterprise and and the public interest? What is the role of experts who speak from both scientific and humanistic perspectives? Are economic growth and social progress one and the same?
American Environmental History Part 1
Seen from both historical and contemporary viewpoints, environmental issues invite questions that are equally philosophical and practical. For instance, what are the roles that private citizens, as well as federal, state, and local government, should play toward the establishment of a national environmental consensus? Is such agreement possible?
Humankind and the Environment; Philosophy and Public Policy: Nuclear Power; Affirmative Action
James Rachels, William Bennett, Steven Cahn, and George Sher continue their discussion on ethics in part four of a series on philosophy and public policy. Topics include nuclear power and affirmative action and other solutions to racial discrimination. Rachels speaks about the citizen as a moral agent with an obligation to mitigate the influence of demagogues in the public sphere. With regard to nuclear power, they discuss the obligations to future generations and how small risks of horrible catastrophes are weighed against larger risks of “liveable harms.” Rachels, Bennett, Cahn, and Sher also discuss public opinion of affirmative action and scenarios where its efficacy is called into question. They also exchange views on the philosophical nature of legal decisions, and how philosophy “happens” in appeals courts. They conclude by comparing public policy philosophical questions with academic philosophical questions.
At the time of this interview, James Rachels was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences was professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. William Bennett was the director of the National Humanities Center. Steven Cahn was associate director of the Humanities Division at the Rockefeller Foundation. National Humanities Center Fellow George Sher (1980-81) was a professor of philosophy at the University of Vermont.
In the second episode [16:45], John Passmore discusses his book Man’s Responsibility for Nature (1974) with Kent Mullikin, and its possible influences on public policy and intellectual discourse on humankind’s relationship to the natural world. Passmore speaks about his approach to the history of environmental ethics, longstanding presumptions of population control as a means to solve environmental problems, and the impending “end of the world” before future generations experience consequences of environmental carelessness. Other topics include criminal carelessness and deliberate pollution of the environment, and the question of villainy on the part of people who act in such ways.
At the time of this interview, John Passmore was a visitor to the National Humanities Center at a meeting of the Academic Ethics Committee of the International Council on the Future of the University. He was professor in the History of Ideas unit at the University of Australia, Canberra.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond and Kent Mullikin, assistant director of the National Humanities Center.
American Fiction, Circa 1980; Environmentalism in America
Pearl Bell speaks in this interview on what she calls “the lack of cohesive trends in American fiction.” In her search for writing characterized by originality, technical skill, and attention to the themes of family and nature, she argues that American fiction in the 1970s and 1980s had no representative writer, a situation she attributes to regional differences and the social fragmentation in the modern world. She also comments on what she sees as the politicization of both fiction and literary criticism.
When this interview was recorded, Bell was a literary critic for Commentary.
In the episode’s second part [14:50] Stephen J. Pyne discusses his book, Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire, a study of the lore and literature of fire and environmentalism. He also talks about “the evolutionary and historical roles of fire,” “fire seasons,” the dangers of urban fires, and the history of environmentalist movements as they relate to fire protection and policy.
For several years before coming to the National Humanities Center as a Fellow in 1979-80, Pyne spent his summers working for the United States Forest Service at the Grand Canyon.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
Exploration and the Antarctic
Literary scholar and explorer Charles Neider discusses the nexus of literature, environmental science, and Antarctica and comments on the continent in terms of its ecological importance to the rest of the globe.
Neider’s books include Edge of the World: Ross Island, Antarctica and Beyond Cape Horn: Travels in the Antarctic. He lead a summer institute for North Carolina citizens, “Voyages of Discovery: On the Literature of Travel and Exploration,” held at the National Humanities Center in 1980.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.