Urban Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Change: Reflections on Interdisciplinarity at the Dawn of the Anthropocene

While Anthropocene is often framed through a geophysical lens, other ways of understanding the Anthropocene, which draw from critical social sciences and humanities are gaining traction in many fields. At the same, a growing discourse of dismissal is challenging the hegemony of scientific and scholarly work of all types and potentially undermining efforts to manage global climate and environmental change. Drawing examples from the field of economic vulnerability to climate change and the author's work in urban coastal New York and New Jersey, Professor Robin Leichenko of Rutgers explores contestations over the framing of Anthropocene from within the academy and dismissal of Anthropocene from without. Professor Leichenko argues that debates over the meaning and implications of Anthropocene present a pivotal opportunity for new interdisciplinary conversations and research and enhanced engagement with real-world concerns.



The Urban Seminar Series

The Urban Seminar Series is a multi-disciplinary forum for research on cities. The seminar series is meant to encourage discussion of urban research topics among NYU and NYC-based students, researchers, and faculty. Talks address contemporary, real-world challenges and are geared toward specialists and non-specialists alike. The seminar series for the academic year 2016-17 will focus on the theme of cities, informal settlements, and climate change.