When I began this class I did not have a strong concept of what it meant to be human in the Anthropocene. On a basic level I understood the factors that contribute to everyday human life. I knew what being human meant to me in terms of morals and lifestyles but I hadn’t really considered it in terms of how… Read more »
Once again I am asked to consider this question; what is human beingness in the anthropocene? A short while ago all I could say about the anthropocene was that it “was a colossal accident,” and “is a consequence of over seven billion people,” because that’s what the syllabus said. I thought about it, and human beingness alone means simply existing… Read more »
The Anthropocene offers a lot to think about in the way of Being. Of course, the questions of how to Be and what Being means are some of humanity’s first documented memories, but their framing changes in our epoch defined by the power and impact of humans. Join me in my examination of life in the Anthropocene by seeing its… Read more »
Before participating in this class, I had no idea what the word Anthropocene meant. I had heard of global warming, but was ignorant of the size and seriousness of the issue at hand. I was exposed to a reality that was shocking at best and disturbing at worst. Through the digestion of information learned in class, I began to question… Read more »
On the first day of the course, after being asked to consider my motivation for taking a class on the Anthropocene, I stated my desire to gain new perspectives that would inform the way I approach life. I am pleased to report that this course has completely and utterly satisfied this goal. At first, I hadn’t the faintest idea about… Read more »
“There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.” Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s words resonated with us. We wanted to create positive change, and like many, we didn’t know how… Read more »
Right away my group and I knew what we wanted to come out of our action project, and that was to circulate strong emotions within our audience in response to information on global warming and its effects. We chose to use the bottom up approach and targeted our own community. Luckily, we have the city of Seattle right at our… Read more »
I came into this course with a very self-centric point of view. I wanted to know what I could do in my life so that I would make a difference and do something good for the world. While my search stemmed from wanting to help others, along the way I somehow forgot about the fundamental interconnectedness of life. I shied… Read more »
Our action project allowed us to engage with the University of Washington community and to interact with a greater system, the federal government. However, we initially struggled to settle on a project that had an impact on a broad system and was possible to execute within a few weeks. We decided to go back to the basics and expand on… Read more »
Group projects will never be simple. The convergence of bright minds will without a doubt clash and merge in new and different ways. Our project was never perfect, but I would not trade perfection for the personal growth and group development. Looking back I believe that my first action project idea lacked the meaning and depth that I ended up… Read more »
