Refashioning Origins in the Anthropocene: Reflections on Pedagogical Practice

Abstract

This contribution to Anthropocenes Interventions brings together the narrative accounts of five undergraduate students frm the Purdue University John Martinson Honors College (JMHC) enrolled in the course HONR 39900: The Anthropocene in fall 2021. The students' starting point for writing was Erle Ellis' commentary about human origins, which he identifies as narratives deeply challenged by the Anthropocene; in rewriting the role of humanity on planet Earth, Ellis argues we are likewise rewriting history, refashioning our understanding of the diachronic processes that shape our world and inform our actions within it. Students were asked to explore these ideas through a re-examination of their own origin stories. Specifically, they were asked to identify their original stories, to consider how these stories have shaped their understandings of their place within the Earth system, and to explore how these understandings might be challenged, amended, undermined, or upheld by the Anthropocene concept. The five selected accounts capture a range of responses that touch upon important, current themes in Anthropocene discourse, including questions pertaining to belonging, ruination, global flows and the stratigraphy of the archaeosphere. As a historical record, they also serve to document emergent understandings of place, agency, and planetary power among a generation of 21st-century students in a US institution focused intently on technological advancements. The themes of each student's contribution are explored and highlighted in a brief introduction written by the course instructor before presenting each student's authored contribution. They are followed with the instructor's summary comments that consider implications for pedagogies of the Anthropocene.