Cosmic Conversations 2022
Building on the work of the 2020 and 2021 editions, the Cosmic Conversations 2022 will focus on the question of habitability and the task of keeping the Earth hospitable. Once again the Ecology of Practices (Grupo de Pesquisa em Ecologia das Práticas or GPEP) invites researchers to join them in conversations that cross disciplinary boundaries and engage with urgent matters of our time.
The habitability of our planet, for us and other species adapted to the climate conditions of the Holocene, is not a given. Habitability is a confluence of ever-changing characteristics, co-created by the living and non-living beings that inhabit this Earth. Every day, all sorts of beings terraform this planet, making it more earth-like, more home-like—that is, a planet where we and our companion species can live and thrive. At the same time, every day our planet becomes a bit more alien to us, as we move towards the climate conditions of the Anthropocene.
From geosemiotics to the challenge of living together in multispecies webs of care, there is no single, sure pathway to answering the question of how we may postpone the end of the world while collectively living lives worth living. But together, in conversation, we work on thinking, feeling, and acting through our present trouble.
In September and October 2022 the GPEP will host a series of conversations on the Association for Research and Practice in the Humanities’ YouTube channel bringing together researchers from different areas. The talks will be in English, Portuguese, and Spanish and open to all.
