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Kendall Cram room, Lavin Bernick Center, Tulane Uptown campus

Anthropocene River: Public Opening Anthropocene River Campus

On November 10, key contributors to the Mississippi. An Anthropocene River project will come together in Tulane University to present their findings to the public and to jointly discuss their diverse subjects and methodological approaches. Participants will draw their work and claims into larger, shared frames of reference that approach the notion of the Anthropocene as a whole through the many planetary-scale effects folded into the local and regional research. How have the months of research changed the participant’s perspective on the iconic river? How can the collected materials lead to a better understanding of the Anthropocene beyond the concrete locations? What needs to be done? What’s next?

Scientists from the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) will address the deep history, the presence and the future of the Mississippi River from a geologic point of view. International and local researchers, artists and activists will engage with the myriad and entangled dimensions that inform human relationships with the river, its landscape and its multispecies inhabitants, from the impact of industrialized agriculture and the impact of extractive industries to water management and co-existence with “invasive species.” Participants of the Anthropocene River Journey, who travelled with canoes down the entire length of the river, will share their perspective on the Anthropocene from within the Mississippi. In a series of experimental panels, these presentations and discussions will be interwoven with inputs and reflections by researchers and artists from New Orleans and the delta region and interrupted by speculative “camp fire questions” on the possible futures of the river.

This public Anthropocene River day serves as a conjunction between the manifold explorations, field researches, discussions and events of the previous year and the intense seminars of the Anthropocene River Campus: The Human Delta (Nov. 10–16) with its in-depth seminars that will further explore the researches and practices along the river, tying the projects findings to the concrete situation in New Orleans and the Mississippi delta.

  • Sunday, Nov 10, 2019
    9:30 am - 10:00 am

    Welcome & Introduction

    Public opening with:
    Monique Verdin, Land acknowledgment
    Rebecca Snedeker, New Orleans Center for the Gulf (NOCGS)
    Katrin Klingan, Haus der Kulturen der Welt
    Christoph Rosol, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and Haus der Kulturen der Welt
    Maria Wilke, Culture and Communication Department, Federal Foreign Office

  • 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

    Mississippi – an Anthropocene River?

    Why the Anthropocene?
    with Bernd Scherer (HKW), Jürgen Renn (MPIWG)
    moderated by Rebecca Snedeker

    The four-dimensional Mississippi
    with Catherine Russell, Colin Waters, and Mark Williams
    moderated by Christoph Rosol

    Anthropocene River Journey: Immersive field research and education
    with Joseph Underhill, Emily Knudson, Audrey Buturian-Larson, Nell Gehrke, Steven Diehl, Monique Verdin
    moderated by Katrin Klingan

    Followed by a discussion.

  • 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

    River Reflections, Upstream: Panel I

    Space, place and exclusion
    Moderated by Katrin Klingan and Rebecca Snedeker

    Inputs by Jason Ludwig, Barbara Washington, Wendi Moore-O’Neal
    Contributions by Maya Kóvskaya, Ellie Irons, Jared Richardson, Abbéy Odunlami

    Followed by a discussion.

  • 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

    River Reflections, Upstream: Panel II

    Moderated by Louise Emily Carver
    Inputs by Brian Holmes and Nikiwe Solomon

    Energy Dependencies: The fate / emergence of an extractivist culture
    Contributions by Amber Ginsburg, Sara Black, Claire Pentecost

    Speaking Landscapes: The Anthropocene Vernacular in the American Bottom
    Contributions by Jennifer Colten, Matthew Fluharty, Derek Hoeferlin, Lynn Peemoeller

    Followed by a discussion.

  • 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

    River Reflections, Upstream: Panel III

    Moderated by Christoph Rosol
    Input by Jamie Allen

    Shifting Landscapes: The politics of cultivating the land
    Contributions by Ryan Griffis, Sarah Kanouse, Nicholas Brown

    De-damming: River governance and new perspectives of community involvement
    Contributions by John Kim, Bruce Braun, Morgan Adamson, Tia-Simone Gardner

    Followed by a discussion.

  • 7:00 pm

    Closing Remarks and Reception

    With Brian T. Edwards
    Developed by NOCGS / HKW / MPIWG and the School of Liberal Arts

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Between 2013-2022 the Anthropocene Curriculum was developed by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW, Berlin) and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG, Berlin), in collaboration with many partners worldwide. The website archive is now maintained by the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.