Indigenous approaches to “Nature”: Insights at a time of Planetary Crisis
Key Details
Update, Wednesday 24th April: we regret that it has become necessary to cancel this event due to a health issue on the part of the speaker. We will be in communication with all those who have already registered, and anticipate that it will be possible to reschedule later in 2024. Thank you very much for your understanding.
The Laudato Si' Research Institute is delighted to invite you to a public lecture to be delivered by our Integral Ecology Visiting Fellow, Dr Vijay D'Souza SJ.
This lecture will be relevant to anyone interested in indigenous cosmologies and cosmovisions, and their potential application to global society at this time of planetary crisis.
A limited number of places are available for in-person attendance at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. We are also glad to offer a professionally-produced livestream of the lecture.
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What is this lecture about?
Indigenous languages and cultures often fall victim to oversimplified judgments: sometimes, they are excessively romanticized; at other times, they are dismissed as primitive and superstitious.
However, a deeper inquiry reveals that indigenous peoples maintain a highly complex and nuanced understanding of the human-nature relationship. Indeed, this has the potential to inform our own (western) situation at this time of planetary crisis.
The lecture will explore indigenous peoples’ understanding of the natural world. On the one hand, Nature is acknowledged as a parent: life-giving, nurturing, caring and protecting. On the other hand, Nature is seen as a fearsome, unpredictable and capricious force. Through mythologies, rituals and social practices, Nature is both revered, but also feared, shunned and even “hated”. These two sides are often personified and projected onto spiritual beings and cosmologies. Such conceptualisations shape how indigenous peoples relate to each other in familial, social and cultural units, and how they function with respect to their environmental situation.
By analysing these understandings, the lecture will show how indigenous worldviews are based on relational values of love, care, fear and awe. These values can inform western epistemologies, worldviews and policy approaches, especially in light of the challenges of the global socio-ecological crisis.
Dr Vijay D’Souza will approach this topic with reference to critical analysis of indigenous languages, cultures and worldviews in Northeast India, where he has worked for nearly two decades.
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When and where will it take place?
The lecture will take place at Campion Hall, the Jesuit Hall at the University of Oxford, on Tuesday 7th May 2024.
There will also be a professionally-produced livestream of the event for those who wish to watch online. This will include an opportunity to pose questions to Dr D'Souza.
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How can I attend?
A limited number of places are available in the Lecture Hall at Campion Hall for those able to attend in person in Oxford. A drinks reception will be held after the lecture for in-person attendees.
We are also delighted to offer a professionally-produced livestream delivery of the lecture.
Please select your preferred mode of attendance below.
