“Communication is nothing more than the exchange of information. Hence, at its broadest sense, environmental communication is necessary for the survival of every living system, be it an organism, an ecosystem, or a social system.”
-Alexander G. Flo (Environmental Communication, 2004)
The interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities weaves together research from the natural, applied, and social sciences with storytelling, art, creativity, and community building. It values indigenous ways of knowing as well as non-human perspectives.
Fears and Constraints
In her short documentary Fears and Constraints, Brenda Brigham begins by asking us, “What do you think of when you think of the word environment?”
In this response to Cherríe Moraga’s play Heroes and Saints, Brenda challenges us to see the environment not only in a “typical nature scene” but also in the busy urban streets of Watsonville, California. Behind the fruits and vegetables the city is famous for are stories that need to be told: the real-life stories of farm workers who suffer the dangers and perils of mega agriculture.
Brenda says, “I opened the film without verbal words because I felt that the viewer needed to question themselves and think of their answer without any auditory bias. The images chosen were the less populated areas of trails and sloughs Watsonville had to offer, therefore less likely to influence the viewer of how people will impact a space.”