Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2019

ORTHIS YEAR’S BROWNSYMPOSIUM, Elizabeth Root Paden Chair in Religion and Environmental Studies Laura Hobgood chose theAnthropocene, or “theageof humans,” asthe theme. Funded byThe BrownFoundation, Inc., of Houston, the event opened with an art exhibition, titled Listening to theAnthropocene , followedbyascreeningofthe2016documentary A Plastic Ocean . Southwestern Associate Professor of Music Bruce Cain, baritone, and Associate Professor andChair ofMusicDavid Asbury, guitar, performedanupdatedversionof River ofWords , a collaborative song cycle based onwinningentriesfromtheannualinternational art and poetry contest of the same name. For the Empty Bowls project, Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Ron Geibel and his students produced and sold 180 bowls, which sold out in thefirst 45minutes of the lunch session, raising $2,461 for The Caring Place, a community organization in Georgetown that provides human services for families in financial crisis. In addition to the fine-arts exhibition and performances, audience members from Southwestern and Georgetown packed Alma Thomas Theater to attend talks and Q&As led by Andrew Revkin, strategic advisor for environmental and science journalism at the National Geographic Society; Dr. Robert Bullard, the father of environmental justice; Carol Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat (1990) and Burger (2018); and Dr. Christopher Carter, an environmental ethicist at the University of San Diego. The Empty Bowls Project raised $2,461 for The Caring Place in Georgetown. F Photos by Carlos Barron Jr. ’10 & Jeff Teicher BROWN SYMPOSIUM XXXIX 10 SOUTHWESTERN theCommons CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: (1) The Empty Bowls Project. (2) The art exhibition Listening to the Anthropocene . (3) The program of events. (4) The symposium’s guest speakers, artists, and organizers.