The Ocean Archive: Querying the Geographies of History

press release: The advent of the Anthropocene concept has prompted a fundamental question: how does the Earth remember? And what does the memory of the Earth have to say about humanity as a species, despite (or because) of its many differences and inequalities? The geologic archive has captured many geographers’ minds, but the ocean contains other possibilities for understanding the nature of planetary history. Postcolonial writers imagine the ocean as a collector of the histories, bodies, and ways of life that hegemonic historical narratives would rather forget. Scientists also understand the ocean as a kind of record(er), following materials or liquid formations through time to understand ocean dynamics and to trace the harmful impacts of substances such as radioactive isotopes and plastics. In this paper I build on these oddly resonant notions to consider the world ocean as a planetary archive that might prompt us to reassess the geographies of history.

The Yi-Fu Lecture Series features a wide variety of U.S. and international guest lecturers from all geographic disciplines. Lecturers at these Friday seminars also often speak at brown-bag lunches, one-on-one student sessions, and breakfast meetings with student interest groups as part of their visit. Doctoral students are invited to present their final research. The lecture series was initiated by Dr. Tuan and receives enthusiastic support as a department and campus tradition.

All lectures are presented on Friday at 3:30pm in Science Hall - Rm 180 unless otherwise noted. Alumni, friends and the public are always invited to attend.