In conjunction with traveling exhibtion "Exploring Human Origins," join Dr. Caputi in a community conversation that entertains the statement, "Everything is a Human Being" (Alice Walker).
Ecological issues as well as the rise of AI is causing a human identity crisis. Some humans proclaim that we are in a new geological era, The Anthropocene (Age of Man or Age of Humans) and deem humanity to be a “God Species” now able to fully dominate nature. Others point to climate change, mass extinctions, and pollution, warning that human attempts to dominate nature have backfired spectacularly. Some humans believe that our species is superior to all others, while others work to legally affirm the “Rights of Mother Nature,” granting rivers, mountains, and other earthly beings much the same rights that most agree that humans deserve (e.g., freedom, autonomy, respect). Meanwhile, artificial intelligence creators, on the one hand. boast about their achievement and, on the other, express fear that their inventions pose an “extinction risk” for humanity “on par with nuclear war.”
We will talk about a need to green what it means to be human and, concomitantly, green our understandings of other beings as well, recognizing that, as Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple) puts it, truly “Everything Is a Human Being.”
Bio
Jane Caputi is Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Caputi’s primary research is in contemporary American cultural studies, including popular culture, gender and violence, and ecofeminism and environmental justice. Dr. Caputi has written many articles and authored four books: The Age of Sex Crime (Bowling Green State University Press, 1987); Gossips, Gorgons, and Crones: The Fates of the Earth (Bear & Co, 1993); Goddesses and Monsters: Women, Myth, Power and Popular Culture (U Wisconsin Press, 2004); and Call Your “Mutha’”: A Deliberately Dirty-Minded Manifesto for the Earth Mother in the Anthropocene (Oxford University Press. 2020). She also collaborated with Mary Daly on Websters’ First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language (Beacon Press, 1987).
Exploring Human Origins: Promoting a National Conversation on Human Evolution is administered by ALA’s Public Programs Office in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s (NMNH) Human Origins Program.
AGE GROUP: | Teens | New Adults | Families | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Summer Learning Program | Speaker | Discussion/Lecture | Clubs & Groups | Arts & Cultural |
TAGS: | Summer Learning Program |
Mon, Oct 21 | 12:00PM to 8:00PM |
Tue, Oct 22 | 10:00AM to 6:00PM |
Wed, Oct 23 | 12:00PM to 8:00PM |
Thu, Oct 24 | 10:00AM to 6:00PM |
Fri, Oct 25 | 10:00AM to 6:00PM |
Sat, Oct 26 | 10:00AM to 6:00PM |
Sun, Oct 27 | Closed |