Okanagan College professor Shona Harrison says we are indeed living in the anthropocene era and climate change is real.
Harrison alongside UBC Okanagan professor Jodey Castricano will be hosting discussions around the planet’s altering biosphere and the implications human-kind has on everything from mass extinctions of plant and animal species to the alteration of the atmosphere following the presentation of a new film series, Welcome to the Anthropocene: Now What?
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Presented by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and Okanagan College Arts and Foundational Programs, the film will look into the evidence and data surrounding the anthropocene, including climate change, environmental degradation, unsustainable water usage, deforestation and hothouse conditions and pollution.
“It seems to me that we are on the precipice of a shift in consciousness, a cultural awakening,” said Harrison. “Some are starting to make the sobering connection that it isn’t only vehicle and factory emissions, for example, that are contributing to environmental degradation, but overwhelming so are our food choices.”
The aim of this film series is to bring about the “Now what?” question, as not only rhetorical but one of local and global importance.
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The next film, H.O.P.E.: What You Eat Matters, features Jane Goodall, and explores the effects of the typical Western diet on animals, our health, and the environment.
“The film challenges the very relationship we have with animals; that is, the kitten curled up on my lap is the very same kind of non-human being who is served up for dinner—it is not ‘what is for dinner, but who is dinner’,” stated Harrison. “Why is it some nonhuman beings are privileged as pets, and some are food—all are sentient, all think and feel, and all want to live. For those still unswayed by the moral evocation, let the science that unequivocally links ill-health with consumption of animal flesh and products convince them it should cease. If that is still ineffective, then the destruction of our planet should convince them.”
All films will be held in the Okanagan College Theatre, Kelowna Campus (1000 K.L.O Road), from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Discussion will follow each film.
Film Series Schedule:
- January 30, 2019 – H.O.P.E. : What You Eat Matters
- February 27, 2019 – The End of Meat
- March 27, 2019 – Speciesism: The Movie
- April 25, 2019 – Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home
The event will also feature free vegan doughnuts from Jaide & Joel’s Bakery, along with coffee and tea.
For information contact: Dr. Jodey Castricano – Jodey.Castricano@ubc.ca or Dr. Shona Harrison – SHarrison@okanagan.bc.ca.
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