The Advent of the Anthropocene: Was That the Big Story of the 2oth Century?

The Department of History and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation are pleased to announce a new public lecture series, part of the John E. Sawyer Seminars on the Comparative Study of Cultures, held in 2014-2015 at Boston University. Following the collapse of communism, and the earlier defeat of fascism, many Americans take for granted the triumph of liberal democracy. Since 1991, alternatives to free markets and representative democracy increasingly appear oddly misguided or inevitably doomed. Because Americans “know” that democracy and capitalism work best, once urgent ideological questions now appear “settled.” The bitter debates and divides of the twentieth century seem almost quaint, especially to young people. As World War II becomes more myth than memory, as the Cold War begins to seem a curious artifact, and as the styles and technologies of previous decades command interest chiefly as subjects of nostalgia, persuading students and the public that the recent past possesses more than antiquarian interest presents a growing challenge. The time is ripe for taking stock of the twentieth century and renewing its relevance to contemporary political culture. John McNeill, University Professor of History at Georgetown University, will give the sixth keynote lecture in the series. McNeill’s research focuses on global environmental history and warfare. His publications include the award-winning Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1640-1914 and Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the 20th Century World. McNeill’s keynote lecture is titled, “The Advent of the Anthropocene: Was That the Big Story of the 2oth Century?” Please join us for a reception to follow the keynote lecture.