Inaugural Lecture: David Farrier In brief Speaker - David Farrier (Professor of Literature and the Environment, University of Edinburgh) Title - Nabokov’s Butterfly, Kafka’s Leopards: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet Venue - Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre Register now on Eventbrite Nabokov’s Butterfly, Kafka’s Leopards: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet by David Farrier Human civilisations are now the world’s greatest evolutionary force. Our fingerprints are everywhere: in birds that forget their songs, in city-dwelling spiders weaving new web patterns, and in elephants born without tusks to escape the murderous attention of hunters. Many animals, plants, and insects are adapting more readily to the coming global climate than we are. As biologist Janine Benyus affirms, “nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved the problems we are struggling to solve,” whether it is organic alternatives to plastic designed after butterflies’ wings, skyscrapers which trap carbon like a coral reef, or more efficient energy systems based on starlings’ murmurations. Moving between biological science, design, art, and literature, I will explore what nature can teach us about life on a human planet. About the speaker Professor David Farrier holds a first degree in English Language and Literature, an MA in Commonwealth and Postcolonial Literature, and a PhD, all from the University of Leeds. He has been in Edinburgh since 2010, first as lecturer, then appointed to Senior Lecturer in 2014. He has held a visiting fellowship at the University of New South Wales, courtesy of the Leverhulme Trust, in 2017. He was appointed to a Personal Chair in 2020. His most recent books consider the new reality of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene Poetics: Deep Time, Sacrifice Zones, and Extinction (Minnesota Press, 2019) is a study of contemporary environmental poetry, and Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils (4th Estate/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2020) explores what traces of present societies will persist in the deep future. He is currently writing Curious Earth: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet, which will be published by Canongate. His writing has also appeared in the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, BBC Future, and Orion Magazine, amongst others. Find out more about David Farrier on his staff profile How to join This lecture is free and open to all. Please register on Eventbrite. Register now on Eventbrite About Inaugural Lectures Inaugural Lectures are free public talks by recently-appointed Professors and Chairs at the University of Edinburgh where they share their work with a wide audience, inviting reflection and discussion on its broader implications. Browse more Inaugural Lectures on the University of Edinburgh website Mar 29 2023 17.15 - 18.00 Inaugural Lecture: David Farrier Join us for the Inaugural Lecture 'Nabokov’s Butterfly, Kafka’s Leopards: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet' by David Farrier, Professor of Literature and the Environment. Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LK Find the venue: Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre Register now on Eventbrite
Inaugural Lecture: David Farrier In brief Speaker - David Farrier (Professor of Literature and the Environment, University of Edinburgh) Title - Nabokov’s Butterfly, Kafka’s Leopards: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet Venue - Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre Register now on Eventbrite Nabokov’s Butterfly, Kafka’s Leopards: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet by David Farrier Human civilisations are now the world’s greatest evolutionary force. Our fingerprints are everywhere: in birds that forget their songs, in city-dwelling spiders weaving new web patterns, and in elephants born without tusks to escape the murderous attention of hunters. Many animals, plants, and insects are adapting more readily to the coming global climate than we are. As biologist Janine Benyus affirms, “nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved the problems we are struggling to solve,” whether it is organic alternatives to plastic designed after butterflies’ wings, skyscrapers which trap carbon like a coral reef, or more efficient energy systems based on starlings’ murmurations. Moving between biological science, design, art, and literature, I will explore what nature can teach us about life on a human planet. About the speaker Professor David Farrier holds a first degree in English Language and Literature, an MA in Commonwealth and Postcolonial Literature, and a PhD, all from the University of Leeds. He has been in Edinburgh since 2010, first as lecturer, then appointed to Senior Lecturer in 2014. He has held a visiting fellowship at the University of New South Wales, courtesy of the Leverhulme Trust, in 2017. He was appointed to a Personal Chair in 2020. His most recent books consider the new reality of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene Poetics: Deep Time, Sacrifice Zones, and Extinction (Minnesota Press, 2019) is a study of contemporary environmental poetry, and Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils (4th Estate/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2020) explores what traces of present societies will persist in the deep future. He is currently writing Curious Earth: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet, which will be published by Canongate. His writing has also appeared in the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, BBC Future, and Orion Magazine, amongst others. Find out more about David Farrier on his staff profile How to join This lecture is free and open to all. Please register on Eventbrite. Register now on Eventbrite About Inaugural Lectures Inaugural Lectures are free public talks by recently-appointed Professors and Chairs at the University of Edinburgh where they share their work with a wide audience, inviting reflection and discussion on its broader implications. Browse more Inaugural Lectures on the University of Edinburgh website Mar 29 2023 17.15 - 18.00 Inaugural Lecture: David Farrier Join us for the Inaugural Lecture 'Nabokov’s Butterfly, Kafka’s Leopards: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet' by David Farrier, Professor of Literature and the Environment. Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LK Find the venue: Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre Register now on Eventbrite
Mar 29 2023 17.15 - 18.00 Inaugural Lecture: David Farrier Join us for the Inaugural Lecture 'Nabokov’s Butterfly, Kafka’s Leopards: what nature can teach us about life on a human planet' by David Farrier, Professor of Literature and the Environment.
