Forum for European Philosophy LSE Literary Festival discussion: The Human Age? Art and Identity in the Anthropocene

The controversial designation “Anthropocene” names a geological epoch in which the planet has been irrevocably changed by human activity. In this panel, three thinkers consider the ways in which the Anthropocene requires us to reconsider both human self-identity and the human capacity for creation and destruction. Is art a narcissistic reflection of human concerns and desires or might it provide a model for dynamic and interactive responses to the global challenges which we face?

Gaia Vince (@WanderingGaia) is the author of Adventures in the Anthropocene. She is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in science and the environment. She has been the front editor of the journal Nature Climate Change, the news editor of Nature and online editor of New Scientist. She has a regular column, Smart Planet, on BBC Online, and devises and presents programmes about the Anthropocene for BBC radio. She blogs at WanderingGaia.com.

Sarah Wood is a Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Kent.  She is Director of Critical Theory MA and the Senior Academic Advisor.

Kathryn Yusoff is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Queen Mary, University of London.  Her current research addresses questions of ‘Geologic Life’ within the proposed geologic epoch of the Anthropocene.

Chair: Danielle Sands is a Fellow at the Forum for European Philosophy.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSElitfest