Companionship across species is not always simple, nor always rewarding, but perhaps says something about respect for more-than-human beings. In this poem and short essay, Kelsey Dayle John reflects on how the complex fear of witnessing her two dogs fight shaped her approach to multispecies relations.
Lizzie Smith describes the oft-overlooked living skin of the desert: biological soil crusts or “biocrusts.” Biocrust bundles show that deserts are full of life, wonder, and instructions for a more interconnected future.
Inspired by volunteering on equestrian trail crews in the Cascade Mountains, Kathleen Gekiere argues wilderness is a multispecies performance, embodied by the practices of horses and humans on the trail.
In this series keynote, professor emerita and historian Harriet Ritvo sets the stage for further investigation of “companion species.” She introduces the varied threads of animal companionship—from influence and impact to proximal, favored reciprocity.
Erica Cherepko illustrates ways in which Japan’s longstanding, community-based marine conservation utilizes “satoumi” to blend tradition and innovation, protecting coastal ecosystems.
Katherine Gregory explores how Cauleen Smith’s short film REMOTE VIEWING (2011) excavates buried histories of racial violence and challenges audiences to rethink who has the right to shape the land.
Bethany Wiggin speaks with Nathaniel Otjen and Juan Rubio on the significance of public-facing environmental humanities via their podcast MINING FOR THE CLIMATE. They discuss the local experiences of lithium mining, the value of narrative, community-driven work in an academic setting, and the futures they envision for the university as a whole.
Using the case of Claremont Road, Savannah Pearson speculates why tunneling activism is a popular form of protest in England historically used to fit against government harm to environmental and human systems.
In this first-of-its-kind special episode, environmental humanities authors Sarah Dimick, Lisa Han, and Ben Stanley discuss their newly published books, connections between their disparate topics, and the importance of nuance in environmental justice.
Kate Judith shares a creative and speculative story through the vertiginous voices of the cuckoo and currawong, which underscore the tension between parasitism and care. The currawong’s caregiving is marked by both sacrifice and survival, while the cuckoo’s actions highlight a demolishing invasive behavior. This form reflects the complex, often painful exchanges that define interspecies interactions.
