As our society transitions to new forms of energy, our social and cultural stories will also change. Derek Gladwin explores how the energy humanities provide a useful framework for understanding and speaking about our individual and collective energy stories.
Read articleDespite a recent surge in youth climate activism around the world, climate-related topics remain marginal in formal education in many countries. A team of researchers created the International Youth Deliberation on Energy Futures to fill the gap. Lynette Shultz and Carrie Karsgaard explain what they were up to, and how the students responded.
Read articleThe shipping of goods around the world keeps economies going. But it comes at an enormous environmental cost – producing more CO₂ than the aviation industry. This problem should be getting urgent international attention and action, but, as Christiaan De Beukelaer explains, it’s not.
Read articleIn the recent U.S. elections, Louisianians voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump and against subsizing polluting industries. Casey Williams explains how to understand this result and what it could mean for the future of fossil fuels.
Read articleCOVID-19 may be fueling flight from urban density that will undercut a green recovery. Caleb Wellum questions technocentric approaches to green recovery and explores the TVO series "The Life-Sized City" as a resource for thinking about how to renew city life.
Read articleThe Liberal government's recent Throne Speech made grand environmental policy pronouncements. Imre Szeman finds fault with the Liberal's haphazard approach and questions their continued commitment to resource extraction.
Read articleCasey Williams provides a definition and overview of the Energy Humanities. It is a field of studies that attends to the ways energy resources, systems, and use patterns shape the material, social, and cultural conditions of modern life. Understanding what it means to live in a fossil-fueled world—at a moment when planetary warming compels a transition away from fossil energy—is its chief task. What new habits, values, desires, and forms of life and art might obtain in a world “after oil”?
Read articleThe COVID-19 pandemic has grounded thousands of would-be travellers and forced the organizers of large conferences to rethink how to share knowledge and build professional networks. Energy Humanities researchers Anne Pasek, Emily Roehl, and Caleb Wellum argue that this turn of events is an opportunity to create more sustainable and equitable forms of knowledge exchange. In this white paper, they offer practical advice for conference organizers looking to experiment with low carbon e-conferencing.
Read articleDeveloped by the Transitions in Energy, Culture, and Society (TECS) project and the Petrocultures Research Group, energy humanities will feature commentary on current developments in energy and the environment, announcements and news items, and video interviews with influential and emerging voices on energy & society. This site will act as a gathering place for the exciting insights the humanities provide about the social nature of our environmental crises.
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