Nathan Hensley, Associate Professor of English (Georgetown University)
When Alice falls into Wonderland in Lewis Carroll’s 1865 classic, she wonders how anything in the world will ever feel normal again. In this lecture, Hensley draws on the experience of Alice and other 19th century literary figures to sketch how it feels to live at the tail end of a long history of climate crisis. With our upside-down contemporary world in view, the talk will trace our climatic unwinding from its origins in nineteenth century coal extraction to our moment of capital intensive “tight oil” and shale gas fracking. The goal will be to show how poetic and literary thinkers from this long modern period –Lewis Carroll; Alfred, Lord Tennyson; and the Brontë sisters among them– invent new languages, poetic resources by which we might begin to imagine, and then to create, a just and livable future.
Nathan K. Hensley is Associate Professor of English at Georgetown University and author of Forms of Empire: The Poetics of Victorian Sovereignty (Oxford 2016). He is also the coeditor of Ecological Form: System and Aesthetics in the Age of Empire (Fordham 2018), and co-director the 2016-2018 Mellon-Sawyer Seminar, “Approaching the Anthropocene: Global Culture and Planetary Change.” He was born and raised in Fresno, California.
- Impossibility of Original Thought? March 4, 2019
Kallie Hutchinson Nathan K. Hensley’s talk last week got me thinking about the influence of the past on every aspect of modern life and personality. I was particularly motivated by Hensley’s comment ... - A Consideration of The Fictional Nature March 4, 2019
egrubman While it is important to recognize to recognize the impact that humanity has on the environment and the natural world, it is an entirely different level of commitment to draw ... - Climate Change in Wonderland March 4, 2019
Grace Eagan Professor Nathan Hensley from Georgetown introduced his thoughts on the climate crisis and how we can learn from literature to help combat it. He began his talk with a personal ... - Our Society is in Wonderland March 4, 2019
slattia Going into this lecture given just the name, I thought this presentation was going to be different from what it actually was. I imagined a typical climate change talk, discussing ... - To Cure Climate Change, We Must Rebuild Our Thought Process March 4, 2019
Lyla Jones On February 25th, Nathan K. Hensley, a professor from Georgetown University, gave an insightful talk titled “Action After Nature: Climate Crisis & the Force of Literature.” He began his talk ... - Literature and Climate Change March 4, 2019
Adam Zarfos This lecture was very interesting to listen to for me personally because it involves subjects that I am passionate about. By incorporating literature and using famous novels as reference to ... - Will Literature Help Us Enter a New World? March 4, 2019
Isabella Scribano Dr. Nathan Hensley’s lecture was titled, Action After Nature: Climate Crisis & The Force of Literature. The lecture focuses on the ecologically collapsing world and the power of literature in ... - the presence of the industrial past is here- are old books really the answer? March 4, 2019
gohwil21 Dr. Nathan Hensley’s lecture focused on the power of literature in addressing the climate crisis. Early on, Dr. Hensley laid the foundation for his talk by discussing the profound environmental ... - Literature’s Response to Climate Change March 4, 2019
easogu21 Nathan K. Hensley’s lecture on Action After Nature: Climate Crisis and the Force of Literature was very eye-opening for me. He touched on the topic of Climate Change with a ... - A Literary Call to Action February 28, 2019
Zaie Nursey Nathan Hensley reminded us that literature serves a larger purpose than entertainment. It is a revolutionary tool. Publications have the power to expose and propel a movement into action and ...