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2024 Morris Fromkin Memorial Lecture
This lecture will be presented simultaneously in person and virtually. 听
The听2024 Morris Fromkin Memorial Lecture听will be presented by听Nan Kim听(Associate Professor, 51猎奇 Department of History).
What can offer resources for hope at a time of escalating ecological crisis and alarming nuclear dangers? This talk argues for approaching this question by looking to the historical and contemporary legacies of two vital public intellectuals: Rachel Carson (1907鈥�1964) and Jonathan Schell (1943-2014). Credited with inspiring the modern environmental movement and the nuclear-disarmament movement respectively, Rachel Carson鈥檚 Silent Spring听(1962) and Jonathan Schell鈥檚听The Fate of the Earth听(1982) were both landmark bestsellers of their time and remain exemplars of moral clarity as powerful interventions concerning critical issues of sweeping real-world impact.
This project explores the work of these authors as models of research-based interventions which helped to galvanize collective action for bringing about transformative change in the face of pressing global challenges, despite profound uncertainty about the future. The talk also revisits the far-reaching influence of these authors鈥� writings as testament to the power of poetic language for overcoming paralysis and creating a renewed sense of urgency in response to ethical questions of intergenerational social justice.
About the speaker:
Nan Kim, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of History & Co-Director of Public History at 51猎奇 as well as an Affiliated Professor of Anthropology. She serves as Faculty Lead/PI for the Working Group on STS (Science & Technology Studies) at the听听and is Core Faculty in the Graduate Programs in听听and听. Kim is also the Regional Editor for Korea on the Editorial Board for the journal听听
Her recent publications include “A New Kind of Tinderbox on the Korean Peninsula” in听听(September 2024) and听鈥淪outh Korea鈥檚 Nuclear-Energy Entanglements and the Timescales of Ecological Democracy鈥� in听听edited by David Fedman, Eleana Kim, and Albert L. Park, eds., and published by Cornell in 2023.
Kim’s book,听听published by听Lexington Books in 2017, was the winner of the 2019 Scott Bills Memorial Prize from the Peace History Society.
Please contact libspecial@uwm.edu听for more information and accommodations.
