Gonzaga University’s Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment is happy to announce an interdisciplinary academic conference on the intersection of climate change and the mathematician-philosopher Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophy of organism.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to, bringing Whitehead’s work into conversation with any aspect of the following topics (both diagnoses and alternatives): marine aquaculture, agriculture, animals, diet and food insecurity, carbon emissions/footprint, deforestation, habitat loss, sea level rise, weather, fossil fuels, environmental justice, climate justice, environmental ethics, anthropogenic causality, geoengineering, or any of the following terms as they relate to climate: nature, animals, plants, future, gaia, and ecology.
Additionally, we invite papers exploring Whitehead’s ideas as they apply to climate-related art, philosophy, ethics, and community-building. This may include experiments in the arts, social ecology, economics and/or incentives, global cooperation, urban/rural planning, cross-disciplinary collaborations, theology of nature, the role of religious communities, multi-disciplinary coalitions, intergenerational partnerships, native problem-solving, indigeneity, activism/advocacy, multi-species ethics, the role of personal exposure, emotions such as joy or grief, repentance, ritual, legal policy, and/or teaching.
Accepted papers will be eligible for consideration to be included in a planned special issue of the journal Process Studies.
The cost of lodging and food will be provided for all accepted presenters. To reduce costs, participants may be asked to share a room with another attendee. In keeping with the conference theme, all meals will include delicious plant-based fare. More details regarding lodging location will be available closer to the conference dates.
Gonzaga University is accessible via the Spokane International Airport (Airport code GEG). More information on travel to Spokane available here.
As you know, travel, especially air travel, is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas pollution. To minimize the impact of this event, the Gonzaga Climate Center will offset travel emissions of all participants through Native Energy. Native Energy uses accredited third parties to rigorously examine their carbon projects—and the carbon offsets they produce—to ensure that they meet established methods for greenhouse gas reductions. All carbon offsets are or will be verified and listed in an independent registry to ensure that each offset is unique and sold only once.
The Center for Process Studies (CPS) is a faculty-based research center at Willamette University.
With its focus on central and fundamental questions about reality, truth, and meaning, philosophy is at the heart of the academic life.