Launch of "Thinking with Plants and Fungi" Initiative
The CSWR is delighted to announce the launch of the "Thinking with Plants and Fungi" initiative, an 18-month exploration into how cutting-edge science illuminates the nature of mind, matter, and cooperation. We are grateful to the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation for their generous support of this initiative.
Plants and fungi make life possible. Plants cover close to 30% of the Earth’s surface, providing oxygen, food, medicine, and regulating the climate; fungi serve as decomposers, fermenters, and much more. And yet plants and fungi are far from passive. Recent scientific research reveals the sophisticated ways in which they sense, make sense of, and interact with the world. Some scientists have even argued that they have agency, intelligence, and consciousness – echoing longstanding wisdom that has been safeguarded by indigenous and folk traditions throughout the world.
Thinking with Plants and Fungi" will engage fundamental questions arising from this research and wisdom: what is “intelligence,” where does it extend, and how? What is matter, and what does it mean to label it “animate” or “inanimate”? How must we broaden our notions of “care” to include other forms of life? How does the study of plants enrich or complicate our understanding of humans’ place relative to other beings? The initiative seeks to enhance interdisciplinary cooperation between biology, ecology, and the humanities, nurturing current and future leaders in plant studies. Through scholarship and public outreach, it will aim to demonstrate how nature's intelligence can inspire new models of cooperation, flourishing, and coexistence amid ongoing crises.
As part of the initiative, the CSWR will continue the "Plant Consciousness" Reading Group and introduce a guest speaker series for Spring 2024. Harvard students and community members can join experiential field trips in 2024 and 2025, learning from experts in plant biology, botany, traditional indigenous practices, and other fields. Additionally, the initiative will fund a post-doctoral fellow position in environmental humanities, culminating in an interdisciplinary academic conference in Spring 2025. Scholarly content, commentary, and reflections will be shared through a soon-to-be-launched blog.
Interested in getting involved or learning more about the “Plant Consciousness” Reading Group?: Read this interview with co-founders Rachael Petersen and Natalia Schwien to learn more about the group, its objective, and its history.
· To join the Reading Group, please register here. The Spring 2024 group will tentatively meet every other Thursday 12-2 PM ET beginning January 25, 2024 · See our reading list here. To get started on the topic of plant consciousness, we recommend reading Michael Pollan’s article in the December 15, 2013 edition of The New Yorker, “The Intelligent Plant.”