Event Videos

Planet Now! Conversation with writer and Professor of Latin American Literature Edmundo Paz Soldán

Planet Now! / Planeta herido: una conversación, a conversation series of the Center for Environmental Studies at Rice University, continues our commitment to open and invigorating dialogue about planetary concerns. Environmental dilemmas do not happen only in English so why should our conversations? The Center for Environmental Studies is proud to present this conversation between Gisela Heffes, professor of Latin American Literature and Culture in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, and a member of the Center for Environmental Studies faculty steering committee, and writer and Professor of Latin American Literature at Cornell University Edmundo Paz Soldán.

Cristina Rivera Garza is an activist and the award-winning author of six novels, three collections of short stories, five collections of poetry and three non-fiction books. Originally written in Spanish, these works have been translated into multiple languages, including English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Korean. She is the Distinguished Professor in Hispanic Studies and Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston.

Marco Armicro, the Icrea Research Professor at the Institute for the History of Science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, discussed the meaning of the Wasteocene, wasting relationships, and the toxic narratives of the anthropocene. Joining this March 6, 2023, Planet Now! discussion from Rice were Joseph Campana, the William Shakespeare Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies; Gisela Heffes, professor of Latin American literature and culture in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures and a member of the center's faculty steering committee member; and Weston Twardowski, program manager of the Diluvial Houston Initiative in the Center for Environmental Studies and Humanities Research Center.

The Center for Environmental Studies, as part of its Planet Now! series, hosted a conversation on performance and arts activism on January 31, 2023, with leading interdisciplinary artists and scholars who engage with environmental and climate justice through arts practice and education. Rice University's Weston Twardowski, program manager of the Diluvial Houston Initiative in the Center for Environmental Studies and Humanities Research Center, moderated the discussion. Discussants included Beth Osnes, associate professor of Theatre and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Kathy Randels, founder and artistic director of ArtSpot Productions; and Una Chaudhuri, dean for the Humanities at New York University.

The Center for Environmental Studies at Rice University welcomed cultural theorist and New York University professor emerita Mary Louise Pratt in a conversation on Jan. 18, 2023, about her new book, "Planetary Longings." The discussion was part of the center's Planet Now! Conversations in Environmental Studies series. Rice University's Joseph Campana, the William Shakespeare Professor of English and director of the center, Gisela Heffes, professor of Latin American Literature and Culture in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, and Weston Twardowski, program manager of the Diluvial Houston Initiative in the Center for Environmental Studies and Humanities Research Center, participated in the discussion.

The Center for Environmental Studies, in collaboration with the Centre for Environmental Humanities at The University of Bristol, presented Conversations in Latin American Environmentalism / Conversaciones sobre ambientalismos latinoamericanos, a Sept. 7, 2022, conversation organized and moderated by Gisela Heffes and Paul Merchant / organizado y moderado por Gisela Heffes y Paul Merchant. Heffes is Professor of Latin American Literature and Culture in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures at Rice University and Merchant is Senior Lecturer in Latin American Film and Visual Culture in the Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at University of Bristol. Featuring / Presentando: Laura Barbas Rhoden, Professor of Spanish, Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Wofford College; Lisa Blackmore, Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex; Pablo Chiuminatto, Professor, Faculty of Letters, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; and Víctor Vich, Professor, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Planet Now! / Planeta herido: una conversación, a conversation series of the Center for Environmental Studies at Rice University, continues our commitment to open and invigorating dialogue about planetary concerns. Environmental dilemmas do not happen only in English so why should our conversations? The Center for Environmental Studies presents this March 31, 2022 conversation between Gisela Heffes, professor of Latin American Literature and Culture in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, and a member of the Center for Environmental Studies faculty steering committee, and Mexican artist Verónica Gerber Bicecci.

Sophie Sapp Moore, a Mellon Foundation postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Environmental Studies and Humanities Research Center at Rice University, Tommy Garcia-Prats, founder of Small Places LLC, Sean Sherman, an indigenous chef and advocate, and Tunde Wey, an artist, writer and cook, participated in "Justice in the Food System," a Planet Now! conversation on March 23, 2022. Rice University's Weston Twardowski, program manager of the Diluvial Houston Initiative in Center for Environmental Studies and Humanities Research Center, and Jade Hagan, garden manager of the Betty and Jacob Friedman Holistic Garden, moderated the discussion.

Joseph Campana, the William Shakespeare Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Rice University, moderated "Are Rivers People Too?", a Planet Now! conversation on Feb. 8, 2022. Discussants included Andrew Kim, director of the Center for the Advancement of the Humanities and associate professor of theology at Marquette University; Michele Speitz, director of the Furman Humanities Center and associate professor of English literature at Furman University; Erika R. George, the Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law and director of the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah; Kelsey Hample, assistant professor of economics at Furman University; and Samantha Majhor, assistant professor of English at Marquette University.

Salmaan Craig, assistant professor in the Peter Guy-hua School of Architecture at McGill University, Rafael Beneytez-Durán, associate professor in the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston, and Heather Davis, assistant professor of Culture and Media at The New School, participated in a Feb. 21, 2022, discussion titled "Prepared Air" as part of the Planet Now! Conversations in Environmental Studies series. Joseph Campana, the William Shakespeare Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, and Liz Galvez, a visiting critic in the School of Architecture, moderated the conversation.

In the Path of Disaster(s): Narratives Around Natural Catastrophes in the Americas/Circum-Caribbean, a Nov. 19-20, 2021 conference at Rice University co-sponsored by the Center for Environmental Studies, brought artists and activists together with scientists and scholars in dialogs that spanned topics ranging from creating art in the aftermath of natural disasters to these catastrophes’ long-term effects on people’s physical health. Rice's Weston Twardowski, program manager of the Diluvial Houston Initiative in the Center for Environmental Studies and Humanities Research Center, moderated a roundtable conversation on pressing environmental concerns with Rachel Powers, executive director, Citizens’ Environmental Coalition; Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud, executive director, Bayou City Waterkeeper; and Leticia Ablaza, government relations and community outreach director at Air Alliance Houston.

Holly Jean Buck, assistant professor of environment and sustainability at the University at Buffalo, Christopher Preston, professor of philosophy at the University of Montana, and Luis A. Campos, associate professor and regents’ lecturer in arts and sciences at the University of New Mexico who joins Rice University in January 2022 as associate professor of history and the Baker College Chair for the History of Science, Technology and Innovation, participated in "Remaking Nature? Bio/Geo Engineered Worlds," a Nov. 15, 2021 conversation as part of the Planet Now! series. Rice's Joseph Campana, the William Shakespeare Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, and Elizabeth Petrick, associate professor of history, moderated the discussion.

Matthew S. Tejada, director of the Office of Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, joined Rice University's Joseph Campana, the William Shakespeare Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, and Gisela Heffes, professor of Latin American Literature and Culture in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures and a member of the Center for Environmental Studies faculty steering committee, for a Oct. 26, 2021, conversation as part of the Planet Now! event series. Kathleen Canning, dean of the School of Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of History, welcomed all to this Fall 2021 Walter Isle Lecture.

Welcome to the newest endeavor from Rice University’s Center for Environmental Studies. Planet Now! / Planeta herido: una conversación continues our commitment to open and invigorating dialogue about planetary concerns. Environmental dilemmas do not happen only in English so why should our conversations? The series begins with an interview between Professor Gisela Heffes, the inspiration behind this new series, and Argentine writer Samanta Schweblin, whose celebrated novel "Fever Dream" (Distancia de rescate) debuts soon on Netflix as a film directed by Claudia Llosa. This July 18, 2021 Planet Now! conversation was produced in partnership with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) and Houston-based Literal Publishing.

Rice's Jim Blackburn, professor in the practice of environmental law in civil and environmental engineering, and Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, participated in the final "Planet Now!" Conversation in Environmental Studies for the Spring 2021 semester. On April 28, 2021, they joined Richard Johnson, executive director for sustainability, co-director of the environmental studies minor, professor in the practice of environmental studies in sociology, and adjunct lecturer in civil and environmental engineering, and Joseph Campana, the Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, for "What Now? Climate and Resilience in 2021," a conversation about environmental policy in the wake of a presidential election, rejoining the Paris agreement, the Texas grid collapse and much more.

Heather Houser, associate professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, and Alexis Shotwell, professor at Carleton University, discussed "Cultures and Media of Environmental Health" on April 14, 2021, as part of the "Planet Now!" Conversations in Environmental Studies. Joining the discussion from Rice were Joseph Campana, the Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, and Clint Wilson III, PhD candidate in the Department of English and Diluvial Houston Predoctoral Fellow.

Leah Stokes, of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Akhil Gupta, of the University of California, Los Angeles, joined the April 5, 2021 "Planet Now!" series conversation, "Futures of Electricity." Stokes is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at UCSB who is affiliated with the university's Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and the Department of Environmental Studies. Gupta is a professor of anthropology at UCLA. Rice participants were Richard Johnson, co-director of the environmental studies minor, director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management, professor in the practice of environmental studies and adjunct lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Dominic Boyer, professor of anthropology in the School of Social Sciences and a member of the faculty steering committee of the Center for Environmental Studies.

Jeff VanderMeer, an award-winning novelist and editor who has been called the “Weird Thoreau” by The New Yorker and who frequently speaks about issues related to climate change and storytelling, joined the March 15, 2021 "Planet Now!" Conversation in Environmental Studies. Rice participants included Cymene Howe, professor of anthropology and a member of the Center for Environmental Studies faculty steering committee; Richard Johnson, co-director of the Environmental Studies minor, director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management, and professor in the Practice of Environmental Studies and adjunct lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Joseph Campana, the Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies.

Gisela Heffes, associate professor of Latin American literature and culture in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, and a member of the Center for Environmental Studies faculty steering committee, joined a panel of scholars on Feb. 25, 2021 to discuss her recent book, “The Latin American Ecocultural Reader,” a collection of seminal Latin American pieces on the environment. Participants included Joseph Campana, the Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies; Jennifer French, professor of Spanish, Williams College; Jorge Marcone, associate professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Rutgers University; George Handley, professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities, Brigham Young University; Ursula Heise, the Marcia H. Howard Chair in Literary Studies, Department of English, and professor, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA; and Felipe Martínez-Pinzón, assistant professor of Hispanic Studies, Brown University.

Sophie Sapp Moore, the Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Humanities Research Center and the Center for Environmental Studies at Rice University, led a discussion, "Afro-Indigenous Intersections in Environmental Justice", as part of the center's "Planet Now!" Conversations in Environmental Studies. Participants in the Feb. 17, 2021 discussion included Michelle Murphy, a professor of history and women and gender studies at the University of Toronto; Beth Rose Middleton, professor and chair of Native American Studies at University of California Davis; and Malcom Ferdinand, an environmental engineer and political philosopher, and a researcher at the CNRS (IRISSO/University Paris Dauphine). The "Planet Now!" series is organized by the Center for Environmental Studies and the Environmental Studies curriculum, with support from the School of Humanities, the School of Architecture, the Humanities Research Center, the Mellon Foundation through the Diluvial Houston grant, and the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures.

Sophie Sapp Moore, a broadly trained political ecologist who will be joining Rice in January 2021 as a Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Humanities Research Center and the Center for Environmental Studies, and Jacqueline Couti, the Laurence H. Favrot Associate Professor of French Studies in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures and associate director of Rice's Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, spoke on Nov. 16, 2020, in a conversation titled "Faculty Spotlight: Caribbean Ecologies." Rice's Gisela Heffes, associate professor of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, and Joseph Campana, the Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, moderated the conversation, the final event in the Fall 2020 "Planet Now! Conversations in Environmental Studies" series.

Jennifer French, professor of Spanish at Williams College, and Cajetan Iheka, associate professor of English at Yale University, shared their work and perspectives on Nov. 2, 2020, in "Ecologies of the Global South" as part of the "Planet Now! Conversations in Environmental Studies" series hosted by the Center for Environmental Studies and the Environmental Studies curriculum, with support from the School of Humanities, the School of Architecture, the Humanities Research Center, the Mellon Foundation through the Diluvial Houston grant, and the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures. Rice University's Gisela Heffes, associate professor of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies in the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, and Joseph Campana, the Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, moderated the conversation.

On Oct. 26, 2020, in a talk titled "Green New Deals," Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and author of the forthcoming book “Unlocking Climate Gridlock”, and Jim Blackburn, an environmental lawyer and planner, professor in the practice of environmental law in civil and environmental engineering, co-director of the Severe Storm Prevention, Education and Evacuation from Disaster (SSPEED) Center, and director of the undergraduate minor in energy and water sustainability, discussed how environmental issues would factor into the 2020 election and what should be the environmental priorities at the federal, state and local levels of government. The conversation, part of the "Planet Now!" series, was hosted by the Center for Environmental Studies and the Environmental Studies curriculum, with support from the School of Humanities, the School of Architecture, the Humanities Research Center, the Mellon Foundation through the Diluvial Houston grant, and the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures. Rick Wilson, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Political Science and professor of Statistics and Psychology, and Richard Johnson, co-director of the environmental studies minor, director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management, Professor in the Practice of Environmental Studies, and adjunct lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering, moderated the conversation.

Ladd Keith, assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning at University of Arizona, presented a talk titled "Sustainable Design, Resilient Cities: The Inequities of Urban Heat" as part of the "Planet Now! Conversations in Environmental Studies" series hosted by the Rice University Center for Environmental Studies and the Environmental Studies curriculum, with support from the School of Humanities, the School of Architecture, the Humanities Research Center, the Mellon Foundation through the Diluvial Houston grant, and the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures. Richard Johnson, co-director of the Environmental Studies minor at Rice University, director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management, Professor in the Practice of Environmental Studies, and Adjunct Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Rives Taylor, Lecturer in the Rice University School of Architecture, moderated the Sept. 28, 2020 conversation.

Julie Sze, professor of American Studies and founding director of the Environmental Justice Project at the John Muir Institute for the Environment, University of California-Davis, and Joni Adamson, President’s Professor of Environmental Humanities and director of the Environmental Humanities Initiative, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, helped to kick off the Planet Now! series of conversations about environmental dilemmas. Gisela Heffes, associate professor of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies in the Rice University Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, and Joseph Campana, the Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English and director of the Center for Environmental Studies, moderated the Sept. 14, 2020 conversation, "What Is Environmental Justice?"