Arts, Media and Climate Change
The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Boston and the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (KWI), organized a symposium on Transatlantic Perceptions of Climate Change: The Role of Arts and Media, on October 18 – 19, 2010.
The public perception of climate change is strongly influenced by the media and the arts, including the work of filmmakers, photographers, cartoonists, etc. Climate change is a showcase for notable differences in public perception between Europe and the US—both in terms of the understanding of climate change science and its causes, and of the actions that ought to be taken. This symposium aims to examine the shaping of perceptions of climate change within Europe and the United States, and ask: What is the role of the media and the arts in determining this perception and enabling an appropriate response to climate change?
DAY 1
October 18, 2010, 6–8pm, SMG Trustee’s Ballroom, 9th floor, School of Management, Boston University
6-6:30 pm: Welcome Reception
- Welcome: Detlef Gericke-Schönhagen, Director, Goethe-Institut, Boston.
6:30-8:30 pm: Transatlantic Perceptions of Climate Change: The Role of the Arts and Media
- Andrew C. Revkin, Senior Fellow at the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies, blogwriter for the New York Times’ “Dot Earth”
- Igor Vamos (alias Mike Bonanno), The Yes Men
- Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam University
- Moderator: Prof. Adil Najam, Director, Pardee Center for the Study of Longer-Range-Future, Boston University
8:30-9:30 pm: Reception
DAY 2:
October 19, 2010 / 9 am – 1.30pm, Rm 426/428, 4th floor, School of Management, Boston University
8:30-9 am: Breakfast
9-10.30 am: Climate Change in the Press of Europe and the US
- Ann-Kathrin Eckardt, Transatlantic Media Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington
- Beth Daley, Boston Globe
- Prof. Chris Russill, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
- Dr. Bernd Sommer, Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI)
- Moderator: Dr. Miquel Muñoz Cabré, Pardee Center for the Study of Longer-Range-Future, Boston University.
10:30-11 am: Coffee Break
11 am-12.30 pm: Art and Climate Change
- Marc Roberts, Climate Blogtoonist
- Simon Faithfull, video artist – work in the exhibition “To the Elements”
- Heidi Quante, 350.org EARTH project coordinator
- Moderator: Victor Coelho, Associate Provost and Professor of Music, Boston University
12.30-1.30 pm: Lunch
- Summing up keynote by Prof. Adil Najam, Director of the Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future
- Concluding Remarks: Detlef Gericke-Schönhagen, Director, Goethe-Institut, Boston.
SYMPOSIUM TOUR: 6 pm: Artist Talk with Simon Faithfull
6pm, Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts
- Control Issues: A Selection of Video Work from To the Elements! – Aesthetic Phenomena of Climate Change, curated by Alfons Hug
Download speakers’ bios here.