School of Education 2022 Ganders Lecture Will Explore the Colonial Roots of Climate Change

The world is currently grappling with two global crises: climate breakdown and democratic backsliding. During Syracuse University School of Education’s 2022 Ganders Lecture, two environmental experts will explore the links between them and ask what kind of educational projects can both promote environmental sustainability and halt the rise of authoritarianism.

Grasping at the Roots of Ecofascism: A Conversation on Climate Change, White Supremacy, and the Need for Radical Educational Projects” takes place on Oct. 13, 2022, at 5 p.m. ET. A hybrid event, the lecture will be in person in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, Bird Library Room 114, and it can be viewed online by registering via Zoom. CART open captioning/Zoom captions will be provided.

The lecture will feature Professor Joseph Henderson and Stephanie Morningstar in conversation on the settler colonial and capitalist roots of the climate crisis; how they root themselves in place to understand the long histories and structures that allow ecofascism to flourish; and how to create radical, solidaristic educational projects that produce more joy and less suffering in the world.

Stephanie Morningstar is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), with ancestors rooted in Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and Europe. She describes herself as a plant nerd, medicine tender, bridge builder, soil and seed steward, scholar, student, and Earth Worker, dedicated to embodying her de-colonial values through the practice of biocultural “re-story-ation”.

Joseph Henderson is Associate Professor of Social Sciences in the Department of Environment and Society at Paul Smith’s College of the Adirondacks. He is trained as an anthropologist of environmental and science education, and his research investigates how sociocultural, political, and geographic factors influence teaching and learning about climate change.

The Harry S. and Elva K. Ganders Memorial Lecture Series remembers Harry S. Ganders, the School of Education’s fourth Dean (who oversaw the transformation of the Teachers College into the “All University” School of Education) and his wife. The lecture was established by the Ganders’ daughters and is also supported by alumni and other contributions to the Harry S. and Elva K. Ganders Memorial Fund.

The 2022 lecture is sponsored by the School of Education Minor in Atrocity Studies and the Practices of Social Justice and the Syracuse University Humanities Center.