on May 15, 2020
Extreme Landscapes of the Anthropocene: Final Student Essays
Anthropocene . Personal ReflectionsAnthropologist Anna Tsing writes that as “sites for more-than-human dramas, landscapes are radical tools for decentering human hubris. Landscapes are not backdrops for historical action: they are themselves active.” As active spaces, engaging with landscapes takes active observation, and a willingness to look beyond the self-as-observer, perhaps through additional research about the history and ecology of
Standing at the edge of the diving board, looking straight down, I become aware of the distance I contain. There is a long way from my eyes to my toes, twice that from my toes to the surface of the water, and again from the surface to the bottom of the pool. There is only
on April 2, 2020
Spiny Pines at the End of the World
Anthropocene . Collaboration . Ecology . Mushrooms . Personal Reflections . Resilience“In open and disturbed landscapes, it’s hard to keep a pine down.” (Tsing, 169) This spiny, resilient tree is a subject of the utmost fascination for writer Anna Tsing, in her book “The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins.” Introducing the pine as an integral supporting
on March 31, 2020
Fungi, Our Teachers
Collaboration . Mushrooms . Personal Reflections . Tales of ProgressTo survive, we must continuously adapt our ways of being by allowing gatherings to change us. The tree of life is insubstantial as a guiding model for our existence because it writes an elite into its framework, assuming a hierarchy, a top rung built on the backs of other subordinates. Fungi, members of the eponymous
on March 31, 2020
Asthma and Modernity in the South Bronx
Anthropocene . Capitalism . Health & Wellbeing . Personal Reflections . Tales of ProgressModernism makes marks on bodies. Mott Haven and Hunts Point, two of the poorest neighborhoods in the South Bronx, are collectively known as “Asthma Alley” for their high prevalence of asthma. Here, people are hospitalized with asthma at 21 times the rate of some of the city’s wealthier quarters. Despite the area’s low rates of car
on March 30, 2020
Sensing Power: A Walk to Wesleyan University’s Power Plant
Anthropocene . Personal Reflections . Tales of ProgressI have passed through the empty lot on the corner of Williams Street and High Street many times this year, but not until now have I come to understand the significance of this place as an active site of energy production. The lot appears distinctly unremarkable compared to other places on campus. The ground is
on March 30, 2020
Playing Together Amongst Ruins
Anthropocene . Capitalism . Collaboration . Personal Reflections . Tales of ProgressUnder the guise of growth and productivity, capitalism has instead left ruins in its wake. Whether it be the terrors of global warming, depletion of natural resources in the name of capital, increasing job insecurity, or individual physical and mental exhaustion, capitalist ruins surround us. Throughout this piece, I hope to illustrate what is meant
on March 30, 2020
Capitalistic Ruins: A Case
Capitalism . Collaboration . Mushrooms . Personal Reflections . Tales of ProgressIn the past decade, Brazilian private schools have been interested in the possibility of sending students to study abroad, either to participate in summers or, more importantly, to attend college as undergraduates. These schools have dedicated SAT/TOEFL professors, college application tutors and connections with multiple universities across the world with the promise of sending their
