Strange Weather: The Science and Art of Climate Change

Climate change is often framed as an exclusively scientific issue: a matter of rising carbon dioxide levels, decreasing arctic ice and species extinction. But humanists and artists also grapple with this environmental crisis, and today deeply engaged, thought-provoking and artistically savvy responses to climate change are showing up in galleries, concert halls and theaters as well as in universities across the globe. Indeed, much recent art deftly incorporates scientific research and methodologies, such as Philippe Squarzoni’s graphic novel Climate Changed, Mel Chin’s fine art app ‘Unmoored,’ and Daniel Crawford’s string quartet piece “Planetary Bands, Warming World”. Too often climate science and environmental humanities travel two parallel tracks, functioning as concurrent but not collaborative projects. Conjoining the two is a force amplifier.

This one day symposium will bring together climate scientists, humanists and artists to bridge this disciplinary gap. In partnership with co-sponsors the Jackman Humanities Institute (JHI) and the Centre for the Study of the United States (CSUS), the event will welcome guest scholars and artists who are committed to – and practiced in – the current paradigm shift to less siloed climate change thinking.

9:00am WELCOME

• Steve Easterbrook, Director, School of the Environment, U of T
• Alexandra Rahr, Bissell-Heyd Lecturer in American Studies, U of T

9:10am OPENING KEYNOTES

• Katharine Hayhoe, Director, Climate Centre, Texas Tech. Katharine is an atmospheric scientist working to develop better ways of translating climate projections and bridge the gap between scientists and stakeholders.
• Diane Burko: Fine Artist and Activist. Diane’s visual art incorporates scientific data, for example incorporating coral reef bleaching metrics in aestheticized images of underwater beauty.

10:30am COFFEE BREAK

11:00am PANEL DISCUSSION: How do we bridge the gap?

• Bhavani Raman, Jackman Humanities Institute Fellow and Historian at the University of Toronto, who studies the history of colonialism and environmental law, with a particular focus on South Asia, such as in her exploration of the geographies of coastal flooding in Chennai.
• Madhur Anand, Poet and Professor of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, where she mixes poetic and scientific approaches to articulating current and impending crises.
• Paul Kushner, Atmospheric Physicist at the University of Toronto, who studies the links between ice, snow, and changing atmospheric circulation, while advocating for scientists to speak up about the risks and realities of climate change.

12:15pm LUNCH (included in registration fee)

1:00pm Data Comics Presentation

• Fanny Chevalier, Assistant Professor in Information Visualization at the University of Toronto. Fanny studies interactive tools to support creativity and exploration.
• Benjamin Bach: Lecturer in Design Informatics and Visualization, University of Edinburgh. Benjamin combines interactive information visualizations and storytelling to help people explore and understand data.

1:30pm Canadian Climate Challenge / Fun House Presentation

• Andre Forsythe, Founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Climate Challenge. Andre works with scientists and artists to develop immersive experiences of climate change and sustainability solutions.

2:00pm REFRESHMENTS BREAK

2:30pm CLOSING KEYNOTES

• Gavin Schmidt, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Gavin pairs his work on climate change drivers with scientific context for pop culture discussions of environmental crises.
• Cate Sandilands, Professor and Trudeau Research Fellow, Faculty of Environment, York University. Cate studies the role of narrative in how to effectively communicate environmental crises to a wide audience.

3:50pm CLOSING REMARKS

4:00pm END

The Science and Art of Climate Change’ will extend the reach of ‘Strange Weather’ beyond 2019-2020. This symposium will be a key step in the School of the Environment’s exploration – evident in April 2019’s cross-disciplinary colloquium ‘Imagining a Post-Carbon World’ – of better integrating humanists into the School. To this end, the event will explore both theories of cross-disciplinary work and methodological questions of how exactly to enact such a timely and productive practice.

If you require accommodation please contact us at environment@utoronto.ca by November 18, 2019.