ipl-logo

Humanities Lens Essay

1165 Words5 Pages

The liberal arts consist of four different lenses: social science, natural science, history, and the humanities. Each lens has its own unique characteristics and approaches to understanding the world. The social science lens focuses on the study of human behavior and societies, examining topics such as culture, economics, politics, and psychology. The lens of natural science involves the study of the natural and physical world, including topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics. History provides the opportunity to study the past through documents and artifacts, examining events and their impact on societies. Humanities compare global cultures through their creative expression, including literature, art, music, and philosophy. The types …show more content…

While the humanities lens emphasizes the present and the future impacts of climate change on human values, the historical lens emphasizes the past and how human activity has contributed to climate change. The humanities are concerned with the human response to climate change and how it affects human well-being, while history is concerned with the evolution of human impacts on the environment. By examining my topic through these two lenses, I have gained a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of climate change and its impact on humanity. I have learned that climate change is not just a scientific issue but also a human issue that affects every aspect of our lives. Regarding the similarities and differences in how the lenses relate to my topic, the similarity is that both lenses provide a perspective beyond the scientific aspects of the topic. The difference is that the humanities lens emphasizes the present and future impacts on human values, while the historical lens emphasizes the past and how human activity has contributed to climate …show more content…

An example question would be, “How can we change our behavior to prevent further damage to the planet?”, we can gain a better understanding of the ethical and cultural implications of climate change and provide insight into how we can adapt and mitigate its effects. In conclusion, examining climate change through multiple lenses is crucial for developing a comprehensive understanding of the issue and finding effective solutions.
References
Brenner, I. (2019). Climate change and the human factor: Why does not everyone realize what is happening? International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 16(2), 137–143.

White, S. (2014). Animals, climate change, and history. Environmental History, 19(2), 319-328.

Volpe, C. (2018). Art and climate change: Contemporary artists respond to global crisis. Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 53(2), 613–623.

Snyder, J. T., Whitney, M. M., Dam, H. G., Jacobs, M. W. & Baumann, H. (2019). Citizen science observations reveal rapid, multi-decadal ecosystem changes in eastern Long Island Sound. Marine Environmental Research, 146,

Show More
Related
789 Words | 4 Pages

Fierce Climate Sacred Ground is a study conducted by Elizabeth Marino about the effects climate change has had on residents in Shishmaref, Alaska. Within this short text, Marino manages to utilize personal narratives (from Shishmaref citizens) as well as revelations of her own to demonstrate how environmental problems are the product of an ecological, social, and political processes. With this ethnographic study, the author intended to address the issue of climate change and related issues such as flooding in Shishmaref while touching on what can be done about the vulnerability its residents face. The book also illuminates the outcome of political and social decisions regarding climate change so that future responses can be done with a deeper

Read More
549 Words | 3 Pages

In the article ‘Why Bother?’ Michael Pollan, a Professor of Journalism at the University of California, examines the dangers of climate change and how ordinary citizens can reduce its effects on the environment. Although most scientists are concerned and have warned nations of its disastrous effects some still deny the existence of climate change. As if melting ice caps and the ever-increasing blue waters were not enough proof, some citizens believe that climate change is an “unproven theory or a negligible contribution to natural climate variability” (Hall 3). Nevertheless, citizens who believe in global warning can change how they live for the better.

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

Almost anyone who will read this essay has undoubtedly heard of the climate phenomenon Global warming. Global warming is a topic that gets discussed very often nowadays, most notably during political debate and discussion. Politicians use certain stances on global warming to appeal to voter’s emotions and logic in order to gain votes and support for their campaign, however climate change is nothing new, during the past several hundred thousand years the Earth has heated up and cooled down and even experienced so called “ice ages”, which is a period where glacial deposits located at the northern and southern hemispheres have grown due to dramatic global cool downs. Don’t be confused by climate terminology though, the global warming so widely

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

Our Earth being both a place of sustenance and shelter is the only place that humans can survive as of right now. Although the discovery of survival might be possible in other planets in the future, the planet of our home is decomposing and transforming into a planet that no organism can survive. The natural order of things in an ecosystem is solely dependent on whether we create a disturbance that can penetrate earth’s shields. In “The World’s Hot Spot” by Thomas L. Friedman, an opinion columnist for the New York Times, suggests that we take a look at nature before it gets extreme and save our personal issues for later. In the article, the use of tone, diction, evidence, and vivid imagery were integrated to clearly portray the current situation of what mother nature is causing as consequences of the problems we create and our least concern in finding a solution.

Read More
1116 Words | 5 Pages

Humanities Effect Although many may question the place humans and animals place on earth, the effect of who is on the top, is difficult to explain. There were two specific essays that put thought into words, about humanity and animals. The themes were about how humans have affected and dealt with nature, they gave a quick glance of the author’s position on the subject. One author made small claims about lighting pollution, while the other emphasizes the idea about humans and nature having a difficult time getting along.

Read More
232 Words | 1 Pages

In the introduction of Michael Pollan’s Why Bother?, he addresses the title’s question , what he calls the “big question” that people concerned with the fate of the planet must face themselves. Through exploration of global warming and environmental crisis, Pollan’s desire is that his readers gain a deeper understanding to what “really is the big question facing us as individuals hoping to do something about climate change.” (Pollan 312) In expressing his goal of writing Why Bother?, Pollan greatly relies on ethos in the introductory to strengthen his argument. By asserting the different aspects, both scientific and personal, of global warming that he has considered and researched.

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

When dealing with the facts of life, many people like to be lied to because they believe that it would lessen the hopeless feeling the news would bring. However, when dealing with issues such as global warming and pollution, the matter should be dealt with in the strictest and most truthful manner due to the severity of the issue. Many authors have published fictional books about events that may happen if humans do not change their ways, however, it heavily relies on the reader’s emotion to empathize with the main character and some events that occur is speculative. When it comes to non-fiction pieces about global warming, like in the article like “Coming Home,” by Roy Scranton, this article is rooted in statics and real life events and are

Read More
896 Words | 4 Pages

In her article "Tensions between individual and system change in the climate movement: an analysis of Extinction Rebellion," Diana Stuart examines the conflict between individual and systemic change in addressing climate change, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

There are good aspects of the Anthropocene including advanced technology, wise use of the Earth’s resources and cautious manipulation of the natural environment. Belief in the good of the Anthropocene is based on humans’ ultimate decision of what kind of planet they inhabit by “using science and technology as their most potent tools for first identifying and then solving problems” (Hamilton, 2015). However, humanity’s negative impacts cannot be ignored as they are becoming increasingly serious, the result of which is deadly to both humans and the Earth’s eco-system and a threat to our planet’s future. The geographic morphing—Collapses of the Antarctic ice shelves and global sea level rise that result from global warming—are made by human activities in the Anthropocene. In addition, everything, including human life, is commodified under advanced capitalism; for example, human egg selling, embryo research, and

Read More
1911 Words | 8 Pages

These perspectives have changed, because, in ourselves, we know that climate change is affecting other areas around the globe. Thus, when it is happening in a part of the United States, it awakens in us the realization that it impacts and affects us personally as Americans who consider Alaska a part of home and country. Our perspective of Alaska and its connection to global warming may also change due to the influences of race, culture, gender, and class that are part of our society. The way we look at Alaska is not just from what the film wants us to see regarding Alaska, but is created by the society in which we live in, and how that society has helped define what other places mean to us. In her study between the connection of Alaska’s climate change and the people of Alaska, Christine Shearer argued an opposite idea, in which climate change rather influences “the role of race, gender, and class, as well as nation” and from these environmental issues in Alaskan villages, they have had to “relocate due to climate change”, leading to a change in their society and thus their perspectives in regards to what Alaska means to them as a wilderness and frontier.

Read More
580 Words | 3 Pages

The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives. The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to

Read More
2482 Words | 10 Pages

The answer to these questions lies in what we value and how we value. These are questions of ethics and morality. Some of the major underlying norms in climate change mitigation like intergenerational equity, shared but differentiated responsibility and polluter pays principle involves questions of ethics, morality and cooperation. To go a step further, we also need to question the validity of these norms and find out if they are sufficient to deal with climate change.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

Climate Change is one of the most unsettling problems mankind faces today. It leaves an impact on every single living thing, on every continent, no matter the privilege. Long term investment must be used to change the world. People must do more than just change out their light bulbs for eco-friendly ones, or drive fuel efficient cars. A choice as simple as changing our diets could reduce a human’s carbon footprint by fifty percent.

Read More
866 Words | 4 Pages

For this reason, it is the overloaded amount of human made GHGs that has trapped heat in the lower atmosphere. In brief, although solar variability has played a role in past climate changes, they have been exacerbated by human activities which have led to an massive increase in greenhouse gas emissions that are the dominant factor altering the global

Read More
747 Words | 3 Pages

So far, conventional solutions to global warming — new government policies and changes in individual behaviour — haven't delivered. And more radical options, such as pumping sulphur into the atmosphere to counteract warming, pose a great deal of risk. There may be another route to avoid the potentially disastrous effects of climate change: We can deliberately alter ourselves, three researchers suggest. Human engineering, as they call it, poses less danger than altering our planet through geo-engineering, and it could augment changes to personal behaviour or policies to mitigate climate change, they write in an article to be published in the journal Ethics, Policy and the Environment. "We are serious philosophers, but we might not be entirely

Read More

More about Humanities Lens Essay

Related Topics

Open Document