GRID + Flow: Philadelphia and Beyond –
Mapping and Reimagining Urban Ecologies through the Arts and Humanities
http://www.temple.edu/institutes/gridflow/symposium.html
An Interdisciplinary Symposium hosted by Temple University, April 7-8, 2011
Kiva Auditorium, Main Campus, PhiladelphiaÂ
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Keynote speaker: Timothy Morton (author of The Ecological Thought and Ecology without Nature)
Ecology and Philosophy in the Time of Hyperobjects
The symposium will highlight emerging interdisciplinary currents in environmental history, ecocriticism, cultural geography, environmental media studies, and environmental ethics. Speakers will address various topics concerning the urban ecology of Philadelphia, including: the use of historical maps to interpret environmental transformation over time; changes in riparian ecology and the development of Fairmount Park; visual representations of aquaculture, zoology, and comparative biology; the impact of rail networks and restaurants on urban life and the built environment; narratives of place in toxic remediation; panoramic navigation and digital information flows; and imagining new flood zone infrastructures in anticipation of rising river levels. Organized by Alan C. Braddock (Department of Art History), Peter d’Agostino (Department of Film and Media Arts), and Andrew Isenberg (Department of History).
The symposium will begin on Thursday, April 7, at 7:00 pm in Kiva Auditorium with a keynote address by Timothy Morton, Professor of Literature and Environment at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of The Ecological Thought (Harvard UP, 2010), Ecology without Nature (Harvard UP, 2007), seven other books, and over sixty essays on philosophy, ecology, literature, food and music. He blogs regularly at http://www.ecologywithoutnature.blogspot.com. His lecture will be followed by a reception and a preview exhibition of a new digital art project, World-Wide-Walks / between earth & water / Rivers by Peter d’Agostino.
A full day of presentations by other speakers will follow on Friday, April 8, beginning at 9:00 am and ending at 5:00 pm. For detailed schedule, see http://www.temple.edu/institutes/gridflow/schedule.html
The event is made possible by a generous Seed Award from the Office of the Provost, Temple University. Additional support comes from the Center for the Humanities at Temple (CHAT).