- TaoufikAmri
- June 13, 2022
- 4:33 pm
The 1st National Environmental Humanities Conference: Perspectives from Morocco
The university of Mohammed I in Oujda hosted a very interesting conference that is considered the first of its kind in Morocco on the 12th and 13th of May 2022. The national conference was organized by the CEDUC research laboratory (URL-CNRST) at the Faculty of Humanities in Mohammed I University in collaboration with the ACEC association. It gathered scholars from Morocco to explore humanities perspectives on human and non-human issues.
Day 1
During the two days, panels, discussions, and insightful talks covered a variety of areas related to environmental humanities and its role in protecting and saving nature. The first day began with a keynote speech given by Dr. Jeff M. Diamanti, a current professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Amsterdam in Netherlands. He has published many articles in the field and has edited a number of books and journal collections and his work appeared in many international journals. His new research, Bloom Ecologies, details the return to natural philosophy in the marine and atmospheric sciences. He co-directs the ASCA Political Ecologies Seminar with Joost de Blooois, and with Amanda Boetzkes, he co-organizes “At the Moraine,” an ongoing research project on the political ecology of glacial retreat in the Arctic. Panels of the first day covered interesting topics that introduced the attendees to the current environmental concerns and helped uncover the role of humanities in defending the environment.
Day 2
The second day was held at the Language and Communication Center and it started with a Keynote speech given by Dr. Said Mentak who was a visiting lecturer at The Jacksonville State University in Alabama, USA. In 2015, Dr. Mentak started a master’s program in Green Cultural Studies. Many different approaches and discussions were introduced revisiting how educators in humanities could and are able to bridge the gap and prove that environmental humanities are in charge of protecting the environment. My talk was about “Rethinking Environment: Educators in Humanities Communicating the Inextricably Linked Perspectives in Humanities and Science”. It highlighted the importance of saving the environment and raising awareness of environmental issues in the community.
The event proved that educators and researchers in humanities play a crucial role in communicating environmental issues and raising awareness on how to save what is left to save. Illuminating truths about current environmental issues and how to protect the deteriorating environment is the job of humanities and science alike. The national conference called for further research and events that cover topics related to environmental humanities, for it is a promising field taking into consideration the current environmental concerns.
