I study the interface of religious beliefs/experiences/institutional identities/practices (and cultural narratives and identities, broadly), and how these both shape and are shaped by the natural, “more-than-human” world. The overarching research question that guides my scholarly path is how can the human animal, from individual to global scales, learn to actively generate just, sustainable lifeways as we move into the anthropocene, if at all?
Professionally I am a Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Environmental and Sustainability Studies at the College of Charleston, where I direct the Sustainability Literacy Institute.
My paper is titled “Surfing: Eros, Thanatos, and Activism” and provides an overview of surf-based environmental activism. It provides a global perspective of key surfer-led environmental protests and the affective, spiritual, political, and ecological motivations of such activism. Case studies include Surfers Against Sewage (UK), Waves for Water (US, and especially Jon Rose), Surfers for Cetaceans (Australia, and specifically Dave Rastovich), protests against the construction of hydroelectric dams in South America (Ramon Navarro), and the creation of the Surfrider Foundation.
For more information on the conference please visit https://surfconf.sdsu.edu/