introduction
To create intellectual community in a time of social distancing, the organizers of the Desert Futures Collective are holding a series of virtual gatherings in which we will discuss our respective projects and begin to generate a shared working language for the comparative study of desert spaces. Our wish is to create space to connect with our colleagues working in relative isolation as we prepare to gather for in-person events and collaborations in the future.
Discussion and intellectual exchange will be the focus of these digital sessions. We aim to nurture robust conversation across our diverse archives, practices, geographies, and theoretical frameworks. We welcome scholars, artists, and activists involved in research or art practices that involve desert spaces, from any critical or creative perspective.
schedule | winter 2020 & Spring 2021
- Friday, December 4, 2020 at 3pm EST | Introductory roundtable
- Friday, March 26, 2021 from 4-6 pm EST | Research workshop
Wastelanding Arabia :
America’s ‘Garden of Eden’ in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia
Natalie Koch
Eda Pepi, discussant
Francisco Robles, facilitator
To register via zoom, click here.
- Friday, April 30, from 12-2pm EST | Tactical & theoretical discussion
Archives & Afterlives :
On researching French nuclear imperialism in the Sahara
Samia Henni
Jill Jarvis
Roxanne Panchasi
To register via zoom, click here.
- Thursday May 20 & Friday May 21 | Symposium & student workshop
Comparative Desert Imaginations : Place, Mobility, Environment
Organized by Brahim El Guabli, Williams College
Full description & call for papers available here.
CONNECTED EVENTS
- “Into the Desert: Questions of Coloniality and Toxicity,” the 2020 Preston H. Thomas Memorial Lectures at Cornell University, convened by Samia Henni. The symposium will feature a series of virtual lectures occuring weekly, beginning October 5, 2020. Eminent scholars, curators, artists, and architects will each approach the topic from different but related perspectives.