“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.
A Somber Reminder
In this acoustic piece, Daniel Rodriguez takes on the denial and uneasiness that characterized many countries’ early response to the COVID-19 virus.
Daniel says, “We view ourselves so independent of nature that we fool ourselves into believing it has no power over us and our comfortable existence.”
In his piece, he includes clips from an interview between Piers Morgan of Good Morning Britain and Peter Hitchens regarding COVID-19’s severity.
Daniel explains his vision for the trajectory of the song: “I began the song with sounds of nature and a bustling city with chatter. Soon after, the sounds of nature begin to fade away. I intended this to represent our transition from living in tandem with nature . . . into modernity. . . .
This modernity leads to the mindset that we are independent of nature, that it is a resource and we have a control over its impact on us. Therefore, the sounds of nature fade as they are no longer in our collective view as equals, but rather fade into silence as the city is the only sound left.”
Image credit: Unsplash