Erle Ellis, geography and environmental systems, co-authored a recent article in Science about the beginning of the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene refers to the part of the world’s history where humans significantly impact earth systems.

The article reviews differing views on how to ascertain the beginning of the Anthropocene, with some claiming that the epoch started in the 1700s and others favoring a 1945 start date. The authors address the debate and recommend using the term informally in order to identify specific time periods within the larger epoch. “In this way, we could avoid the confinement imposed by a single formal designation, yet acknowledge the long and rich history of humanity’s environmental transformations of this planet, both for better and for worse,” they wrote.

Click here to read “Defining the epoch we live in” in Science.

Additional coverage:

• Did the Anthropocene Begin in 1950 or 50,000 Years Ago? (Scientific American)
• The year that humans first began radically altering the planet (Vox)
• Can Humanity’s ‘Great Acceleration’ Be Managed and, If So, How? (New York Times)
• New group seeks to timeline the Anthropocene—when humans became the dominant force on Earth (Phys.org)

If there has been one constant in contemporary geopolitics, it’s the partnership between the United States and Israel in promoting (arguably through some questionable means) stability in the Middle East.

For years the United States has provided billions in military aid to Israel, as well as political cover in the UN where the overwhelming majority of nations have sought to exert pressure on Israel to end its decades-long occupation of the West Bank.

But tensions between the two traditional allies have been on the rise, with the stalling of the peace process with the Palestinians and disagreement over how to stop a nuclear Iran to blame.

Those tensions came to a focal point in February when House Speaker John Boehner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arranged behind the Obama administration’s back for Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress. The speech was seen by many as a breach of protocol for infringing on the president’s right to conduct diplomacy.

Netanyahu advocated against ongoing multilateral negotiations with Iran (spearheaded by the Obama administration) that would lift international sanctions in exchange for delaying Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, arguing that the broad framework of the deal currently on the table would enable Iran to build a nuclear weapon far too quickly (although that might a foolish way to measure a good deal).

Bringing Iran to the table for nuclear talks has been one of President Obama’s central foreign policy efforts since he came into office in 2009.

In addition, the March Israeli elections, where Netanyahu beat expectations to secure another term as prime minister, prompted two more flash points as Netanyahu appealed to his conservative base.

First, Netanyahu declared that a two-state solution for peace between Israel and Palestine would not happen on his watch, a major rebuke of official US policy in the region.

Then, on Election Day, Netanyahu urged his supporters to get out to the polls to counter a supposed wave of Arab voters, a racially charged tactic which, just weeks after the 50th anniversary of the Selma voting rights demonstrations in the United States, struck a nerve with President Obama.

All this prompted unprecedented public criticism from the Obama administration, with the president himself claiming that he would be reexamining the relationship between the United States and Israel in response Netanyahu’s stated rejection of the two-state solution.

It’s unclear exactly what the administration wants from Netanyahu to ease tensions. Though a reconsideration of America’s security relationship with Israel is unlikely, the administration could cease protecting Israel from hostile resolutions in the UN in a bid to pressure Netanyahu back to the negotiating table. But such a move could meet heavy resistance from some congressional Democrats.

Is the eternal friendship between the US and Israel in jeopardy? Will this spat last beyond Obama and Netanyahu? Let us know in the comments section below.

Join us, traveler, on an epic quest. 

We seek the Fountains of Sustainability.

You have heard dark tales: deserts swallowing grassland, species lost forever, impending climate catastrophe, the odd molasses spill…

But despair not!

In a few crannies of our little blue world, things are looking up. We must journey together to find these rare gems and bring them to light, showing the rest of the world how we may yet save ourselves.

First stop: Costa Rica.

The Central American nation has long flaunted its green heart to the world, by pioneering the Ecotourism movement, then promising carbon neutrality  by 2021.  

So far in 2015, though, our sibling to the south has blown us out of…err, into….the water by burning no fossil fuels to generate electricity, instead running on hydroelectric power and other renewable energy sources.

By comparison, the United States uses about 10% renewable energy. 

Costa Rica’s current 100% renewable streak will probably end with the rainy season, when hydroelectric plants stop generating so much electricity.

In an ugly twist, climate change is already causing unpredictable rain patterns that make this type of renewable power less consistent. 

Still, Costa Rica’s standout season shows the rest of us what can happen when a country is willing to put political muscle behind sustainability,  as well as play to its geographic strengths: in this case… damn many dammable rivers. 

Stay classy, Costa Rica, and stay with us, travelers as we venture across the Earth in the coming weeks. 

Call for Proposals for Spring 2016 Residential Faculty Research Fellowships

Application Deadline is May 1, 2015

The Dresher Center for the Humanities invites applications for two Residential Faculty Research Fellowships for spring 2016. Funding is intended to support and promote significant humanities research at UMBC. Dresher Center Residential Research Fellows will reside at least one day a week in the Dresher Center and receive release from teaching (up to two course releases) in order to work on a significant humanities research project or the training necessary to embark on such a project. Faculty wishing to develop expertise in a new field or discipline towards a future project are also encouraged to apply. Each fellow will have the use of a private office in the Dresher Center and will be awarded $500 to hire an undergraduate research assistant (junior or senior) for the semester.

Fellows will conduct two research works-in-progress sessions during the semester. The first will be a Fellows and Others session on their research methods held toward the beginning of the semester. The second will be a session in the CURRENTS: Humanities Work Now series on the work that has been accomplished during the semester. The CURRENTS session should take place by late April. Fellows will also participate actively in Dresher Center programs, including attendance at Fellows and Others and CURRENTS sessions, and at least two Humanities Forum events. A short report on fellowship activity will be due to the director within 3 months of completion of the fellowship. Residential faculty fellows will be considered fellows of the Dresher Center for as long as they are on the faculty of UMBC. After their semester in residence they will be expected to serve for a two-year term on the Dresher Center Advisory Board and remain active participants in Dresher Center programs.

The Dresher Center welcomes proposals from all full-time, tenured and tenure-track faculty members pursuing humanities research in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.  Applications are especially encouraged from, but not limited to, full-time faculty with appointments in departments and programs with a humanities focus. Two fellowships are available. Proposals will be reviewed by the Dresher Center Advisory Board, with decisions by mid-July 2014.

Click the link below for a fillable PDF application. Download the application and attach it in an email, along with your proposal, to dreshercenter@umbc.edu.

Dresher Center Faculty Research Fellows Application 

A film by Bill Shewbridge and Michelle Stefano has been selected to be screened at several prestigious film festivals in May and June. Produced by Shewbridge, professor of the practice of media and communication studies, and Stefano, visiting assistant professor of American studies, Mill Stories: Remembering Sparrows Point Steel Mill  is a documentary based on the stories gathered through the “Mill Stories” project. The project seeks to document the sociocultural impacts of industrial decline and help amplify the voices of those affected by it in the Baltimore region.

The documentary has been selected to screen at three upcoming film festivals: the 14thRoyal Anthropological Institute International Festival of Ethnographic Film (Bristol, UK, June 16-19, 2015), the 12th International Congress of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF) Film Program (Zagreb, Croatia, June 22-24, 2015), and the Workers Unite! Film Festival in New York City (May 19, 2015). For more information on the “Mill Stories” project, click here.