Seminar: The Politics of Ecology, Trauma, and Care
Friday January 9, then Monday-Thursday January 12-15
Block 1: 8:30-9:45 am (NY) / 3:30-4:45 pm (Kyiv) / 4:30-5:45 pm (St. P.)
Concept Note: Currently, the world is fractured with multiple forms of crises, such as ecological,
physical, psychological, emotional, economic, and various others, triggered by catastrophes and
war. The onset and execution of catastrophes and war do not occur independently. They are
deeply political in their approach, underpinned by factors such as social, cultural, historical, racial,
and geopolitical positions. As such, identity in its multiplicities has become of great interest as we
try to make sense of ourselves, where we are situated, and the afterlives of catastrophes and war.
In our reflections, we explore our location and the different catastrophes and wars we face, and
how they continue to shape our identity and transmit trauma over time. Over five lectures, this
short course explores ideas that examine identities, positionalities, ecology, and trauma. Beyond
these sites of trauma, we begin thinking of decolonial practices of care.
Course Assignment:
In this course, we would like you to engage with your own context about the texts we have
scheduled for the course. For your assignment, we invite you to write a short page reflection on
any of the texts we cover during the course. The deadline for this assignment is 15 January 2026.
Course Plan:
Class 1 – 09/01/2026: Positionality (Danille & Sayan)
Yip, Sun. (2024). “Positionality and reflexivity: negotiating insider-outsider positions within and
across cultures.” International Journal of Research & Method in Education 47(3): 222-232.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2023.2266375.
Class 2 – 12/01/2025: Politics of Ecology (Sayan)
Callison, William and Tatjana Soding. (2023). “A climate fit for capitalism: ordoliberalism’s political
ecology and German environmental politics.” Environmental Politics 33(6): 997-1018.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2024.2317108.
Class 3 –13/01/2026: Ecological Trauma (Sayan)
Lerner, Adam B. (2023). “The politics of trauma and victimhood.” In Handbook on the Politics of
Memory, edited by Maria Malksoo, 147-162. Elgar Online.
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800372535.00017.
Class 4 – 14/01/2026: Social Trauma (Danille)
Simpson, M. A. (1998). Second bullet: Transgenerational Impacts of the Trauma of Conflict
within a South African and World Context. In Yael Danieli (Ed.), International
Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma. Plenum Press: New York.
Class 5 – 15/01/2026: Decolonial caring Practices (Danille)
Oliphant, V. N., Broyles, D., Clement, D.N. & Wingate, L.R. (2022). Mental health strategies
informed by Black Feminist Thought. Open Cultural Studies, 6, 137-146. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2022-0151