About

The Anthropocene marks a transformation in the earth’s history from the Holocene to a new geological epoch characterized by human impact. Despite its likely ratification by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, the term remains controversial, in particular with regard to potential social or political implications of the prefix—Anthopos.

Some alternatives—Anglocene, Capitalocene—seek to designate more clearly human communities or forms of social organization purportedly responsible for creating the conditions that mark the onset of the new era; others, for example, Chthulucene, designate models for alternative, less destructive and less anthropocentric ways of living on earth. This proliferation of nomenclature to designate the earth’s present age confirms and reflects the transformative power of the term, and a growing recognition of the urgent need to address the current planetary crisis. 

Compared with “global warming” or “climate change,” the idea of the Anthropocene has reanimated the Arts and Humanities, transforming research, arts-marking, and teaching across disciplines. Characterizing the nature and significance of that transformation remains an unfinished project.

While mindful of the term’s semantic and conceptual limitations, our purpose is to engage directly with the Anthropocene concept’s transformative power. Bringing together scholars and artists, we ask: What is the added value of the concept of the Anthropocene for the Arts and Humanities? One goal of our project is to identify the ways in which the concept provides an opportunity to rethink how NYUAD engages in knowledge production, creative practice, and pedagogy. The absence of the Arts and Humanities on the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which has working groups comprising researchers from the natural sciences, public policy, and the social sciences, underlies the significance of this goal. A second goal is to explore the distinctive contributions that the Arts and Humanities could make to such international organizations.

Weaving together five projects, we will examine and identify the transformative power of the Anthropocene by engaging in research, creative practice, and pedagogy on topics that are central to interdisciplinary work in the Arts and Humanities: storytelling, agency, place, installation and (urban) experience. Each project is linked to a specific question that addresses the transformative power of the Anthropocene.