Hacking the Anthropocene IV

Hacking the Anthropocene IV is a collection of curated research and engagement events to be held in Melbourne in July 2019, followed by research development activities.

Summary

Hacking the Anthropocene has been held in Sydney for the past three years, and centres around the need to interrogate and reconfigure the ‘Anthropocene’, with its colonial, anthropocentric, heteropatriarchal and ‘game- over’ assumptions and impacts.

Building on previous Hacking events, Hacking the Anthropocene IV will develop and disseminate anti-colonial, queer, feminist and more-than-human approaches to ecological scholarship and action, with an emphasis on the environmental arts and humanities. Hacking the Anthropocene IV’s theme, D-I-T (Do-It-Together) specifically asks participants to consider how we might hack (endure, reconfigure, resist) the Anthropocene together. It asks what kinds of collectives might be able to Hack the Anthropocene, and whether and how these are possible and/or emerging.

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Aims and Activities

This program is designed to establish a transdisciplinary cross-Faculty research cluster to address the intersection of ethical, equity and epistemic issues embedded in the concept of the ‘Anthropocene’.

Hacking the Anthropocene IV’s program includes a one day symposium, keynote public lectures, and four ‘walkshops’, held in July 2019. This will be followed by collaborative research outputs and a grant development workshop in August 2019. Together these will support the ongoing development of a cross-Faculty network of environmental arts and humanities.

The theme D-I-T is not just a topic, but a pedagogy embedded in the format of the events, which will facilitate transdisciplinary and cross-Faculty collaboration. Based on feminist, ecological, queer and social justice pedagogies, these events will maximise social inclusion and epistemological diversity.

This program of events includes a high level of engagement with local and international academic researchers, artists, activists and practitioners as presenters, performers and participants.

Project team

  • Dr Stephanie Lavau, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Environmental Practice, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences
  • Dr Hayley Singer, Lecturer in Creative Writing, School of Arts
  • Dr Tessa Laird, Lecturer in Critical and Theoretical Studies, Victorian College of the Arts
  • Blanche Verlie, PhD Candidate (climate change education), Monash University; Lecturer and Tutor, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University; Research Assistant, University of Melbourne
  • Anna Dunn, Climate for Change facilitator; Masters of Environment student; Communications and Events Assistant, MSSI, University of Melbourne