The Centre for Sustainable Development at the University of Gdansk is opening a new programme: More-than-human Studies Lab – a 21st century transnational open collaboration between academia at large, art institutes, NGO’s and others, that explores in what way our stormy times urge us to live our lives otherwise. Irena Chawrliska, PhD, was appointed programme coordinator.
The lab is rooted in multiple intellectual and theoretical developments from the 20th century that include actor-network theory, systems theory, new materialism, post humanism, STS, feminist/queer/postcolonial theory, as well as the revitalization of non-western traditions in knowledge. Engaging all the faculties of knowledge, it explores a humanism which is not based on parasitic relationships but on symbiosis.
Irena Chawrilska, PhD, More-than-Human Studies Programme Coordinator Lab. Photo: Renata Dąbrowska
Irena Chawrilska, PhD, Director of the Academic Centre for Polish Language and Culture at the University of Gdansk and assistant professor in the Department of Applied Polish Studies at the Institute of Polish Philology, has been appointed coordinator of the programme.
“The more-than-human studies lab that opens our eyes to new alliances is not about decentring the human, it is not about the new turn in the humanities, it is about embracing climate change, drought, biotechnology, war, terrorism and rethinking how we can work towards broad sustainability. In times of crisis and uncertainty, higher education institutions have a unique role to play in transforming the university in this regard, generating new ideas and developing solutions for a sustainable future. In our More-than-Human Studies Lab, we aim to create new alliances for new shared ideas about how to think together and otherwise coexist in stormy times,” announces the project coordinator.
The new programme is part of the Centre for Sustainable Development’s action plan for the 2024-2028 term, and you can read more about it here: Migration Observatory – new programme of the Centre for Sustainable Development of the University of Gdansk – The Centre for Sustainable Development of the University of Gdańsk (CZRUG)