Energy Afterlives

About

This Scalar book features the work of students in Professors Selby Hearth, Joel Schlosser, and José Vergara's courses from the fall 2023 Energy Afterlives 360 cluster and the summer 2022 iteration of the STEM in the Liberal Arts Fellows Program at Bryn Mawr College. It provides various projects and resources related to coal, oil, and nuclear energy through the lenses of geology, political science, and the arts. 

THE PROJECT
As part of our efforts to understand humanity’s relationships with coal, oil, and nuclear energy sources, students in these courses have collectively built this Scalar book. From the geology courses, students have contributed a selection of objects they have worked with, data analyses they have conducted, samples they have taken from field sites, and conceptual diagrams. Their goal with these contributions is to synthesize their work on the geology of coal, oil, and nuclear energy and to connect it with their writings from the humanities and social science courses. These latter reports describe and analyze works regarding the three energy sources that did not appear on our syllabus. They explore a wide range of materials and the intersections between humanity, nature, and energy.


THE COURSES

In STML 112 / GEO 107, we examined the geology of coal, oil, and nuclear energy. Through readings, specimen analyses, field sampling, and lab work, students assessed the geologic conditions under which these materials formed and the long-term environmental consequences of their extraction.

In STML 113 / RUSS 232, we considered how these three energy sources give shape to our lives in countless ways by exploring their place in literature, music, and art. This approach allowed us to examine the personal, human elements of energy and extraction.



CONTRIBUTORS--- 

Site supported by the Digital Scholarship Program at Bryn Mawr College.

Special thanks to Don Barber, Yeidikook’áa Dionne Brady-Howard, Cathy Connor, Rob Cunningham, Caroline Daws, Bronwen Densmore, Ernestine Hayes, Kevin Maier, Katherine Marenco, Pedro Marenco, Alice McGrath, Lindsay Meyer, Tom Mozdzer, Leila N'Diaye, Kelsey Obringer, Katie Price, Jennifer Skirkanich, Matthew Spellberg, and Rich Willard.

This page references: