Science, Art Intersect to Explore How What鈥檚 Seen 鈥� and Unseen 鈥� Shapes Understanding

Harvard's Peter Galison speaks at the teach-in Image by Ed Brennen
Peter Galison, a Harvard University history of science professor, talks about the importance of images at the 2018 David Lustick Climate Change Teach-In at O'Leary Library.

12/17/2018
By Ed Brennen

For all the charts and graphs that scientists use to sound the alarm on climate change, nothing gets people鈥檚 attention quite like videos of massive glaciers collapsing into the sea or images of raging wildfires consuming drought-ridden landscapes.

鈥淲e know we need science to understand these problems, but we also know that science is not enough to reach people in that visceral way,鈥� says Assoc. Prof. of Environmental Science Juliette Rooney-Varga, director of the university鈥檚 Climate Change Initiative. 鈥淎nd we also know from the social science research that it鈥檚 that visceral reaction that spurs action.鈥�

So this year鈥檚 David Lustick Climate Change Teach-In 鈥� 鈥淚nvisibilities: Seeing and Unseeing the Anthropocene鈥� 鈥� took a cross-disciplinary approach to the issue. Fusing the fields of science and art, it explored how images can not only shape, but also obscure, people鈥檚 understanding of climate and environment. (The 鈥淎nthropocene鈥� is the current era during which human activity is seen as the dominant influence on climate and the environment.)

Organized by Assoc. Prof. of Art History Kirsten Swenson as part of the university鈥檚 new InterDisciplinary Exchange & Advancement (IDEA) initiative, the teach-in was held on South Campus for the first time, drawing more than 100 students to O鈥橪eary Library.

Kirsten Swenson and Akbar Abjduljalil stand nextt to the teach-in poster Image by Ed Brennen
Assoc. Prof. of Art History Kirsten Swenson and Climate Change Coalition President Akbar Abjduljalil organized this year's teach-in.

鈥淚t might seem like a divergence, but art history has long looked at landscape and land use, going back to the Renaissance,鈥� says Swenson, who researches the 鈥渋ntersection of art, land use and environmental issues.鈥�

Last spring, Swenson was one of five associate professors to receive $10,000 in IDEA funding to lead a collaborative project with other faculty on campus. Swenson鈥檚 鈥淐ritical Landscapes鈥� project, which will also feature several interactive art projects in 2019, includes Rooney-Varga, Lori Weeden (associate teaching professor of environmental, earth and atmospheric sciences), Fr茅d茅ric Chain (assistant professor of biological science), Chad Montrie (professor of history) and Misha Rabinovich (assistant professor of art and design).

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know these people in sciences before, so the IDEA grant has been a nice opportunity for collaboration,鈥� says Swenson, whose 2015 book 鈥溾�� (which she co-authored with Emily Eliza Scott) was the impetus for the project.

The teach-in鈥檚 featured speakers 鈥� Peter Galison, a Harvard University history of science professor, and Caroline Jones, an art history professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 鈥� examined how images shaped public perception of two of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history: the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and California鈥檚 Aliso Canyon natural gas leak in 2015.

MIT's Caroline Jones speaks during the panel session Image by Ed Brennen
Caroline Jones, an art history professor at MIT, makes a point during the teach-in's panel discussion.

Deepwater Horizon鈥檚 wellhead 鈥渟pill cam,鈥� which Congress demanded that BP make public, provided a 24/7 reminder of how much oil was gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

鈥淲atching these webcam images became a form of environmental torture,鈥� said Jones, who added that the toxic chemical BP used to disperse the oil below the surface 鈥渒ept the real damage well out of camera.鈥�

With the Aliso Canyon gas leak, Jones described how environmental activists had to use an infrared camera to prove that the site wasn鈥檛 contained, as gas company officials claimed. Shortly after the video appeared online, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency.

Galison noted that technology (such as drones) and digital media platforms (including YouTube) have helped democratize the dissemination of these types of videos, which in turn has led to 鈥渓egal cloaking鈥� 鈥� such as laws that have made it a crime to film inside some industrial agriculture operations.

鈥淧eople have begun to fight bitterly to get access to imagery,鈥� Galison says, 鈥渢o bring back into discussion the things that are constantly being forced into invisibility.鈥�

Juliette Rooney-Varga, Peter Galison and Misha Rabinovich during the panel discussion Image by Ed Brennen
Assoc. Prof. of Environmental Science Juliette Rooney-Varga and Asst. Prof. of Art and Design Misha Rabinovich listen as Harvard's Peter Galison, center, makes a point during the panel discussion.

After their presentation, Galison and Jones joined Rooney-Varga and Rabinovich for a panel discussion moderated by UMass Dartmouth lecturer Rebecca Uchill. Swenson is collaborating with Uchill and Sam Toabe, gallery curator at UMass Boston, on a traveling exhibition next year called 鈥淚n Place: Local Ecologies of Eastern Mass.鈥�

The teach-in was also supported by the student-led Climate Change Coalition, which received $3,000 from the Sustainability Engagement & Enrichment Development (S.E.E.D.) Fund to host an interdisciplinary sustainability lecture series this year.

As part of this year鈥檚 teach-in, the CCC also hosted a 鈥淪owing SEEDs of Sustainability鈥� event at O鈥橪eary where students learned about sustainability-related research and resources on campus and brainstormed SEED Fund projects for 2019.

The coalition鈥檚 new president, sophomore economics major Akbar Abjduljalil, says the teach-in gave students a unique view of the climate change issue.

鈥淚鈥檓 around the sciences a lot, so it鈥檚 interesting to see the perspective of social science and the humanities,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was good for me to cross over to the other side, and I think it was good for others, too.鈥�

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