Glaciers in Nature and in Public Life: Science and Society in the Anthropocene

Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (DNVA) proudly present anthropologist and Professor of International and Public Affairs Ben Orlove from Columbia University. His invited talk is on the environmental changes most immediately linked to global warming: the retreat of glaciers.

The meeting is open to all.

Glaciers are widely understood as elements of mountain landscapes and as objects of scientific research. As they shrink, they attract increasing attention. But which publics consider them, and which aspects do they consider?
This talk explores the multiple frameworks in which glaciers can be located, including economic valuation of water resources and hazards, esthetic and spiritual dimensions of beauty and sublimity, and emerging perspectives in which human society and the natural world are not separate at all. Examples will be drawn from Iceland, Norway, the US, Peru, Chile, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan.

About the speaker
Professor Orlove is one of the four co-directors of the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University where he teaches in the Master's Program in Climate and Society and serves as Associate Director. Orlove is also a Senior Research Scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society.