All We Can Save: A Conversation with Leah Stokes

For the first event in the new series Buddhism and Posthumanism: Questioning the Place of Humans in Multispecies Environments, Leah Stokes will join Kayla Bowland, Frances Garrett, and Rory Lindsay of the Ho Centre for Buddhist Studies for a conversation about energy, climate and environmental politics. Stokes will discuss her current research on environmental policy and describe how her undergraduate training in Buddhist studies informed her development as a scholar and activist. She will also discuss the challenges facing climate activists and consider how Buddhist communities and Buddhist studies scholarship might engage with efforts to combat the climate crisis.

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About the Buddhism and Posthumanism Event Series 2021-22

 The Ho Centre is thrilled to announce its 2021–22 speaker series Buddhism and Posthumanism: Questioning the Place of Humans in Multispecies Environments, which features climate researchers, activists, and Buddhist studies scholars focused on reconsidering the place of humans in an interconnected world.

What is posthumanism? Posthumanism acknowledges that humans are an animal like any other and that we are but one equal element in the diverse web of nature. As such, posthumanism also acknowledges that the pursuit of human progress should not presuppose human supremacy, and that non-human animals should have the conditions necessary for their own flourishing as well. In light of humanity’s current course, it recognizes too that destructive environmental practices harm a vast network of beings, humans and non-humans alike, threatening our collective futures.

Many aspects of Buddhist traditions resonate with these ideas, such as Buddhist models of self-cultivation and of generating compassion for all beings. Yet deeply embedded notions of human superiority sit in tension with these same posthumanist ideas. The aim of this series, then, is to explore Buddhist resonances, departures, and contributions to posthumanist attempts to meet the present climate emergency, and to consider paths forward involving individual and collective action.

This series will feature Zoom meeting conversations with five leading figures in the field, all talks will begin at 3pm EST. These are:

November 4, 2021
Leah Stokes, Associate Professor, University of California Santa Barbara

December 2, 2021
Geoff Barstow, Associate Professor, Oregon State University

January 27, 2022
Janet Gyatso, Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies, Harvard University

February 10, 2022
Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia, Asian Studies Program, University of California Riverside

March 24, 2022
Dekila Chungyalpa, Director of the Loka Initiative, Center for Healthy Minds and Healthy Minds Innovations, University of Wisconsin–Madison