Book and Tour: How can a jar of sand illustrate the impact of humans on the Earth?

At the next Book and Tour, discuss the book Future Remains: A Cabinet of Curiosities for the Anthropocene with Carnegie Museum of Natural History Curator of the Anthropocene, Dr. Nicole Heller, and Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Tomas Matza. Future Remains is a book of lively essays featuring objects that tell a story about the Anthropocene, the geological age when humans have become a dominant influence on the Earth system. The objects of today have much to suggest about the future and how this era will affect the planet.

Dr. Heller and Dr. Matza co-wrote the lead essay “Anthropocene in a Jar,” which mediates on the blurry boundaries, and often vexed relationship, between human development and natural processes through the lens of a jar of curiously patterned sand and shells collected at Wrightsville Beach. Dr. Heller and Dr. Matza will perform their essay as it was first presented in an Anthropocene slam at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014. The pair will also present a collection of “curiosities” from the museum that pair with the essays in the book, including specimens from mollusks, gems and minerals, and our collection of birds.

This is a free event, but those wishing to attend must sign up. To sign up, please join our Meetup group and RSVP.