Environmental humanities

People study how we live with nature. They look at our stories and our past. This helps us take care of the world.

Some people call this field the ecological humanities. It uses many ideas to solve problems. It looks at how we think and act.

This work shows that everything is linked. The living world and the non-living world are one system. We are part of this big system too.

Many people from all over the world help. They teach these ideas in many lands. They study how to be fair to all.

We can learn to live well with the earth. It is a way to find new answers.

People study how humans and nature live together. This field is called the environmental humanities. It brings many subjects together. These include history, books, and art. It also uses ideas from science.

This work started growing in the 1970s. In the 1990s, some researchers in Australia used a new name. They called it the ecological humanities. By 2010, most people used the name we use today.

This field teaches us that everything is linked. The living world and the non-living world form one big system. We are part of that system too. Because of this, we must think about justice. This means being fair to people and the earth. We can even think about rights for non-humans.

Many people help this field grow. This includes thinkers from many different cultures. They help us see that nature and culture are not separate. Today, many universities teach these ideas. Students can learn about this on every continent. It helps us find new ways to solve big problems.

The environmental humanities is a special way of studying our world. It brings many different subjects together to solve big problems. Researchers look at things like history, art, and books. They also study philosophy and how people talk to each other. This field helps us think about our values and our duties. It asks how we should act toward the planet.

This way of thinking works by connecting different ideas. It tries to bridge the gap between science and the humanities. It also looks for links between different cultures. This includes Western, Eastern, and Indigenous ways of seeing the world. The field shows that nature and human culture are not separate. Many environmental issues are tied to politics and justice.

This field has a long history of growing. New ideas started appearing in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, some researchers in Australia used a different name. They called their work the ecological humanities. The name we use today became common around 2010. Two important journals started in 2012 and 2014. These helped the field grow even more.

Many important places teach these subjects today. The University of Utah has the oldest program in America. There is also the Rachel Carson Center in Munich. Other centers exist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Rice University. You can find these courses on every continent. Many universities offer degrees like a Bachelor of Arts. Students can even study for a PhD in this field.

One big idea is that everything is connected. This is called a connectivity ontology. It means the living and non-living worlds are one system. Every part is linked to every other part. This helps us think about justice for everyone. We can even think about rights for non-human things. This helps us imagine a much bigger world.

The environmental humanities is a large, interdisciplinary field of research. It combines many different subjects to study our relationship with the planet. These subjects include environmental history, philosophy, and literature. It also includes science and technology studies, anthropology, and communication. This field uses humanistic questions to address serious environmental problems. It focuses on meaning, culture, values, ethics, and human responsibilities. Researchers want to understand how humans fit into the natural world.

This field works by bridging many traditional divides. It connects the sciences with the humanities. It also connects Western, Eastern, and Indigenous ways of thinking. Many people used to think nature and culture were separate. The environmental humanities show that they are actually entangled. Environmental issues are often tied to human justice, labor, and politics. This approach uses transdisciplinarity to solve problems. Transdisciplinarity means sharing knowledge across many different fields.

The field grew steadily over several decades. New ideas began to emerge in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. During the 1990s, Australian researchers used the name "ecological humanities." The specific name "environmental humanities" became common around 2010. The field grew even more with the start of new journals. The journal Environmental Humanities began in 2012. Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities started in 2014. These publications helped the field consolidate its ideas.

Today, many universities teach these subjects on every continent. The University of Utah has the oldest graduate program in America. Other major centers include the Rachel Carson Center in Munich. The University of Wisconsin–Madison has the Center for Culture, History, and Environment. Rice University hosts the Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences. The University of Pennsylvania had the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities from 2014 to 2024. Students can earn many types of degrees. These include Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and PhD degrees.

A core idea in this field is connectivity ontology. This is the belief that the organic and inorganic worlds are one system. Every part of this system is linked to every other part. This idea is related to the "World Engine" concept in physiological philosophy. Because everything is connected, justice must be viewed differently. We must consider how our actions change ecosystems. This leads to "ecological thinking." This way of thinking includes non-humans in our ideas of justice.

Some thinkers use three specific axioms to describe this field. The first axiom is submission to ecosystem laws. This means humans must follow the rules of nature. The second axiom is ecological kinship. This views humanity as a participant in a larger living system. The third axiom is the social construction of ecosystems. This suggests that "nature" might be a concept humans created to organize ideas. These axioms help researchers investigate their own theories. This prevents the field from becoming just simple ecology.

New theories continue to develop within the field. One example is political economic ecology. This combines ecocentric philosophy with political economics. It looks at how justice relates to ecological values. Another example is the Energy Systems Language. This was created by systems ecologist H.T. Odum in 1994. It uses the principles of ecological energetics to describe ecosystems. It helps show both linear and non-linear connections. This language helps us understand the complex flow of energy and value.