SHIFTING ECOLOGIES

The rise of the rational gaze as the primary means of viewing nature in the modern, scientific world has created strong binaries between nature/culture and human/nature. This colonial, anthropocentric view has enlarged the distance between us, and the beings that surround us, by placing them in fixed categories and creating hierarchical relationships that elevate humans above the rest of nature. Shifting Ecologies invites us to shift away from this way of relating with the world, aiming to create space for the more-than-human. We hope to do this through engaging our animalistic senses, recognizing the queerness in nature and exploring alternatives to natural science and rationality. Some of our topics include: queer ecology, indigenous knowledge, witchcraft, spiritual ecology, ecofeminisms, sensuous learning, european traditional knowledge and more. Through this exploration we hope to mend our broken relations with land and spirit, to become aware of our interconnectedness, and to build resilience in environmental justice movements. How do we challenge the duality between nature and culture? Can we re-enchant ourselves to be more aware of our more-than-human kin? How does re-indigenizing look like in our modern world? How can we replace alienating approaches to nature in favor of more embedded and empathic ones? These are some questions that we'll explore within Shifting Ecologies.