Porous Boundaries and Borders of Entangled Bodies
A Counterpoint Conversation
This year, Counterpoint is joining the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The conference is devoted to the topic “Crossing Borders, Transgressing Boundaries: Religion, Migration, and Climate Change.” (see the full program here).
In our Counterpoint Conversation, we will talk about “Porous Boundaries and Borders of Entangled Bodies”:
One way to think about evolution on our planet is the migration of life through various terrains. Essential to this process are border crossings. In ecology, the boundaries between eco-systems are referred to as ecotones. These porous boundaries define evolutionary, ecological, embodied life. We are not ourselves without the planetary community that has led to the emergence of human bodies, and this is the same for all other life on the planet: we are various combinations of the exchanges of energy, materials, and information. This “entanglement” of life doesn’t necessarily lead to a healthy environmental ethic or some sort of biophilia. After all, it means we will also vanish as a species, and life as we know it now on the planet will be different in the future. Each embodied life is not just entangled and interconnected, but also a unique expression of a combination of things. What is our responsibility in such an interdependent context, but one that also requires “porous boundaries” for individual lives to persist? This round table will explore the “borderlands” and “porous boundaries” of life at multiple levels, reflecting on a set of common pre-circulated questions.
Panelists:
♦ Whitney Bauman (Florida International University)
♦ Greg Johnson (University of California, Santa Barbara)
♦ Kate Rigby (University of Cologne)
♦ Kocku von Stuckrad (University of Groningen)
♦ Carol Wayne White (Bucknell University)
Join us on 24 June 2025 for this Counterpoint Conversation! Participation is free of charge.
Time: 5.30pm – 7.00pm European time / 10.30am – 12.00pm Pacific Daylight Time
Zoom link: https://fiu.zoom.us/j/88089134666?pwd=F7vuts7VHP80Fo5x2pgXhkYnavm2I1.1 | Meeting ID: 880 8913 4666 | Passcode: gDm2hZ
Image credits: Photo by Miriam Fischer: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-sand-2645245/ (free download)
