Fluid Horizons: Charting Ancient Environmental History and Blue Humanities

Fluid Horizons: Charting Ancient Environmental History and Blue Humanities
Organizers:
Enaiê Mairê Azambuja, Jamille Pinheiro Dias (Environmental Humanities Research Hub, School of Advanced Study).
Manuel Álvarez-Martí-Aguilar (University of Malaga / ICS Dorothy Tarrant Fellow).
Jason König, Andrea Brock (Centre for Ancient Environmental Studies, University of St Andrews).
Stephanie Jones (Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities, University of Southampton
There has been an expansion of work recently on the sea and rivers across the whole range of ancient environmental studies, from literary to archaeological approaches, but there have still been very few attempts to discuss the challenges and prospects for that emerging field and to debate the question of what theoretical frameworks and what overarching questions are likely to be most productive. That is the goal of this workshop. We want to ask how far looking at blue humanities research for other periods and cultures can help us to open up new questions about human-water relations in the ancient Mediterranean world, and bring new perspectives to current research in the broader field of ancient environmental studies. We also ask how looking at the classical and premodern past can make a difference to the blue humanities as a discipline.
By bringing together specialists from a range of different fields and fostering interdisciplinary exchange, the workshop aims to generate new perspectives and encourage the development of innovative lines of research on the complex relationship between humanity and water in a long-term perspective.