Topeka, Kan. – The Washburn University philosophy and religious studies department will host the annual Russell Jacobs Lecture in Philosophy 7:30 – 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 in Washburn Room B in the Memorial Union. Dr. Clare Palmer will present "Environmental Ethics in a Changing Climate." A reception will follow the lecture. This lecture and reception are free, and the public is welcome.
When: 7:30 – 9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19
Where: Washburn Room B in the Memorial Union, on the Washburn University campus
Environmental ethics and policy in the United States have long championed the values of ecological communities, species and wildness. These values have been protected in important environmental legislation such as the U.S. Endangered Species Act, 1973, and the Wilderness Act, 1974. However, Palmer will argue, as we move into the Anthropocene – the current era of human dominance –significant challenges to the understanding and protection of these traditional environmental values exist. In this talk, Palmer will explain what she takes these traditional environmental values to be, outline some of the leading challenges presented by climate change, technological change and several important value shifts, and use case studies to think through how environmental ethicists could respond to such challenges.
About Dr. Clare Palmer
Palmer is a British philosopher and scholar of environmental and religious studies who is currently a professor in the department of philosophy at Texas A&M University, as well as a George T. and Gladys H. Abell Professor in Liberal Arts. Her research focuses on environmental and animal ethics, and the ethics of emerging technologies. She is the author or co-author of five books, including “Animal Ethics in Context” and “Wildlife Ethics: The Ethics of Wildlife Management and Conservation.”
She has also edited or co-edited a number of volumes, including “Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World,” a collaboration between philosophers and ecologists. She was a member of the consensus committee that produced the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine report “Biotechnology and Forest Health: Possibilities and Considerations” in 2019 and served as the president of the International Society of Environmental Ethics from 2007-2010.
About the Russell Jacobs Lecture in Philosophy
The purpose of the Russell Jacobs Lecture in Philosophy is to bring outstanding philosophers and discussion of their work to Washburn University. It is held in the fall and is always free and open to the public. Emeritus faculty member Russell Jacobs established this lecture upon his retirement.
- 30 -
For further information, contact:
Joy Bailes
Assistant Director of Public Relations
Telephone: (785) 670-2153
Cell: (785) 230-1648
Email: joy.bailes@washburn.edu
