Reading and Reflection Seminar Spring 2024

BIO 591 23742 

ELS 591 23900  

SOS 591 23894

Examining the Anthropocene 

In spring 2024, we will be exploring the concept of the Anthropocene from multiple perspectives. In 2019, the Anthropocene Working Group of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (part of the International Commission on Stratigraphy) voted that the Anthropocene is a thing (a “Global Stratotype Section and Points (GSSP)”) that is defined by a stratigraphic signal (unnamed) from the mid-twentieth century of the Common Era. But what does that mean? And what issues and questions does the term evoke from other segments of society? Given that ESSA is Earth Systems Science for the Anthropocene, we hope to explore the “A” in ESSA from the diverse perspectives represented by or discovered by ESSA scholars. Join us! It will be a fun exploration, and we hope you’ll come away with some ideas of how to incorporate (or not) “Anthropocene” concepts into your own research.

ESSA RRS is open to all graduate students in any college, school, or department at ASU. Because each semester is unique, you can take this one-credit seminar as often as you wish. NOTE: No class meeting January 12; first meeting January 19!