{"id":22260,"date":"2023-03-15T14:42:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T05:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/sgu\/?p=22260"},"modified":"2023-03-15T14:42:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T05:42:57","slug":"event-report-wias-seminar-series-humanities-in-the-anthropocene-vol-9-open-lecture-environmental-aesthetics-history-theory-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/sgu\/news-en\/2023\/03\/15\/22260\/","title":{"rendered":"Event Report: WIAS Seminar Series \u201cHumanities in the Anthropocene\u201d Vol. 9 Open Lecture \u2013 \u201cEnvironmental Aesthetics: History, Theory, Politics\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WIAS Seminar Series \u201cHumanities in the Anthropocene\u201d Vol. 9, Open Lecture \u2013 \u201cEnvironmental Aesthetics: History, Theory, Politics\u201d was held on February 27, 2023. Professor Timo M\u00fcller<\/a>, Chair of American Studies, Department of English Literature, University of Konstanz, Germany, specializing in aesthetics and literature, was invited to give a presentation on the history of research on “environmental aesthetics” and his own views on the politics of aesthetic representations of the natural environment and was discussed with 19 participants.<\/p>\n

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At the beginning of the lecture, M\u00fcller introduced the Off the Road project at the University of Konstanz. This is an effort to systematically reexamine the relationship between human beings by historically reconsidering the automobile culture through reaffirming the now almost forgotten fact that automobile travel was thoroughly environmentally friendly before the advent of the current system of automobiles running on concrete roads.<\/p>\n

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As a theory behind such a concrete project, M\u00fcller then introduced in detail the concept of “environmental aesthetics” proposed by the philosopher Gernot B\u00f6hme (1937-2022). M\u00fcller discussed the potential of “environmental aesthetics” to replace the traditional emphasis on aesthetic judgment and subject-object relationships in nature aesthetics with a more comprehensive understanding of environmental awareness.<\/p>\n

In the process of explaining B\u00f6hme’s approach with reference to recent studies on New Materialism and other topics, M\u00fcller also introduced a number of books, making this seminar very informative.<\/p>\n

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The seminar was planned and organized by our lecturer, Udith Dematagoda, and the video of the seminar will soon be available to the public on YouTube.<\/p>\n

Event Overview<\/h5>\n