The coeditors of Ecologies in Practice: Environmentally Engaged Arts in Canada, Elysia French, Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University, and Amanda White, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Curating in the Department of Visual Art at Western University, join the program discuss the organization, development, and geographical focus of their book and the possibilities of action-oriented art. Covering specific contributions, the term “environmentally engaged art,” and the impact of art on policy and progress, this series dives into the current landscape of Environmental Humanities and the potential of cross-disciplinary partnerships.

In the first episode of this four-part series, Elysia and Amanda share their research interests and how their friendship in the academy lead to Ecologies in Practice. They also describe the Environmental Humanities, explaining how the field creates collaborative spaces for interdisciplinary approaches to the arts and environmental studies. Next, Amanda and Elysia analyze how their backgrounds influence their work. As a practicing artist, Amanda has knowledge of the process of artmaking, while Elysia, an art historian, critically engages with art, measuring social, political, and environmental impacts. Both, however, share an interest in artist-scholars, with that intersection made explicit in the title.

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