Environmental Martyrs and the Fate of the Forest

Rob Nixon

Monday, 28 Oct 2019 at 7:00 pm – Sun Room, Memorial Union

Rob Nixon, a nonfiction writer and public intellectual working in the environmental humanities and postcolonial studies, will address the current surge in environmental martyrdom against the backdrop of the resource wars in the Amazon and beyond. The talk will offer an international perspective on the value of our planet's inhabited forests and the threats to their viability. Nixon asks: What is the relationship between the sacrificial figure of the environmental martyr and the proliferation of sacrifice zones under neoliberal globalization? And what is the relationship between the fallen martyr and the felled tree? Nixon holds the Barron Family Professor in Humanities and the Environment at Princeton University. He is the author of four books, most recently Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. In conjunction with the 2019-2020 Department of English Goldtrap Speaker Series

Cosponsored By:
  • Ames Public Library Friends Foundation
  • Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)
  • Department of English
  • Goldtrap Lecture Series
  • Humanities Iowa
  • MFA Program in Creative Writing and Environment
  • Pearl Hogrefe Fund
  • Signal Poetry Festival
Share
Share
Set a Reminder
Add to Calendar
Sign-ins after Event

Stay for the entire event, including the brief question-and-answer session that follows the formal presentation. Most events run 75 minutes.

Sign-ins are after the event concludes. For lectures in the Memorial Union, go to the information desk in the Main Lounge. In other academic buildings, look for signage outside the auditorium.

Lecture Etiquette

  • Stay for the entire lecture and the brief audience Q&A. If a student needs to leave early, he or she should sit near the back and exit discreetly.
  • Do not bring food or uncovered drinks into the lecture.
  • Check with Lectures staff before taking photographs or recording any portion of the event. There are often restrictions. Cell phones, tablets and laptops may be used to take notes or for class assignments.
  • Keep questions or comments brief and concise to allow as many as possible.