Rupert M. Medd
Rupert Medd is a passionate teacher and scholar of global literature, geography and oceanography. This incorporates Earth-system science, the environmental imagination and power of stories, creative writing, Indigenous Studies, travel writing, journalism, alternative children's literature, digital medias and memories. He embraces both the Humanities and Natural Sciences in equal measure. He is also a surfer, traveller and dedicated to the World Ocean in all its seasons. He is particularly inspired by the struggles of the people and Nature of Latin America, the Arctic, and South Pacific regions. In 2013, he obtained a PhD in creative writing on the environment from the University of Bristol, England. He then studied under the United Nations University, including "Planetary Boundaries," "Human Rights, Human Wrongs," and "One Planet, One Ocean" - the latter led by the teams at GEOMAR, the International Ocean Institute, Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Future Ocean. Now he works as a tutor of English Language and Literature, journalist, creative writer and researcher. He lectures at the University of Southampton (UK) and until recently at Cappadocia University (Turkey). He is also a valued consultant/editor for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He has published an array of academic and journalistic articles, 14 UN papers on sustainability, two prose novels, a travelogue and a recent volume on large format photography. His current research explores Indigenous photography in Latin America and the literature on the South Pacific and Polar Regions, titled "Pacific circulation: a history of travel, biography, testimony and globalisation." For more information on his World Ocean project visit www.instagram.com/eyesotherwise
Supervisors: Matthew Brown, Claire Lindsay, Roger Kirkup, Sarah Heiser, Johan Rockström, Jeffrey D. Sachs
Supervisors: Matthew Brown, Claire Lindsay, Roger Kirkup, Sarah Heiser, Johan Rockström, Jeffrey D. Sachs
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Papers by Rupert M. Medd
port authorities and marine protection societies. These voices speak from a position of ecocosmopolitanism on wide-ranging issues such as indifference, world-systems, modernity, ecological literatures, a common geostory, biosemiotics, the Anthropocene as well as Planetary Boundaries. By acknowledging that the World Ocean and its qualities have come to symbolise a fluid globalising world economy, alternative themes surface such as permeability, flows, agencies, loss, renewed sense of place, cross-species entanglements, peace and sustainability. The debates edge along fairly freely yet engage with three original ideas, namely: (1) plastic pollution may impact the climate more severely than the actual circulating concepts on climate change; (2) critical levels in
the environment have been reached and this should, therefore, be part of a Planetary Boundary within “Novel entities” as it adversely affects the Earth’s systems; and (3) the question of language and how new education curricula centred around ecolinguistics and a shared geostory would better inform our environmental relations and altruistic natures. As presented here, plastic pollution is at its heart a debate involving a moral
reassessment and appreciation of Planet Ocean, which constitutes our greatest personal gift – the “common heritage of humankind.”
Here, the travel narratives of two prominent Peruvian figures are analyzed: José Uriel García from Cusco and Aurelio Miró Quesada Sosa from Lima. Together, they provide valuable evidence about two different responses to the modernization of Peru while also representing the nation's significant sociogeographical divides. The focus is on questions of history, coloniality/modernity, national identity, and natural resources such as water and wood. It is hoped that this will contribute to literary studies on travel and the environment.
Includes illustrations by French artist Hélène Guyot.
The Pierced Veneer " In memories we were rich. We had pierced the veneer of outside things. We had 'suffered, starved and triumphed, grovelled down yet grasped at glory, grown bigger in the bigness of the whole.' We had seen God in His splendours, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man."
Sir Ernest Shackleton, entry in his book, 'South'.
Экологическое беззаконие: преступления против природы – необходимость наказания.
1 сентября 2014 года защитник окружающей среды Эдвин Чота (Edwin Chota) вместе с тремя другими членами его сообщества были убиты в пограничных районах Амазонии, в попытке приостановить нелегальную вырубку леса и добычу полезных ископаемых. Это был отголосок широко обсуждаемого в СМИ дела Чико Мендеса (Chico Mendes), профсоюзного лидера и эколога, убитого в Акре, Амазония, Бразилия, в 1988 году.
Подобная жестокость по отношению к тем, кто упорно выступает в защиту мировых экосистем, отражается на всех нас. Эти люди привлекают всеобщее внимание к теме глобального изменения климата и необходимости принятия юридических мер на пути решения общемирового экологического кризиса.
Они также напоминают нам о настойчивом призыве со стороны Организации Объединенных Наций и ведущих мировых научно-исследовательских организаций о необходимости «всеобщей защиты» окружающей среды. Если бы подобной защите был присвоен официальный статус, то все, кто имел мужество и жертвовал своей жизнью ради сохранения жизни на Земле, могли бы работать совместно и выступать официально против экологического беззакония. Это также способствовало бы свершению правосудия в отношении физических лиц, компаний или государств, которые совершают преступления против нашей планеты.
Tello's field notes that comprised his book, Arqueología de Cajamarca: Expedición al Marañon – 1937, being the northern region of the Marañon River-basin, is the principal narrative informing this discussion. The focus is on Tello's uncovering of antique water channels-acequias and an aqueduct, leading him toward an alternative environmental conclusion that was multi-functional. His field notes are explored as 'travel writing' for its exciting heterogeneous capabilities for socio-environmental commentary. As Tello's writings contributed toward processes of decolonisation in Peru, understood as a challenge to the dominance of Eurocentrism, this discussion engages with the notion of "coloniality of power" - a concept developed by social theorists such as Aníbal Quijano and Walter D. Mignolo as to how Peruvian culture and history have been mainly defined by colonial, imperial and global processes.
In 1999 the countries that share the Amazon created an online initiative together with their respective ministries of environment, International Conservation, and the International Center for Journalists. It is titled 'Premio reportaje sobre biodiversidad' (PRB, Award-Winning Articles on Biodiversity). Their objective is to support the professionalism of journalists, travelers, and community groups who cover environmental topics. The vulnerability is clear for those at the front line such as Edwin Chota, who was murdered in the Peruvian Amazon in his attempt to halt illegal logging in 2014.
With a general focus on Peru’s Amazon regions, this form of contemporary resistance and testimonial literature by the underrepresented is confronting globalization through a growing environmental consciousness that acknowledges the importance of biodiversity, sustainable practices, and Indigenous rights. Women writers in particular make extensive use of this online resource in their attempts to confront environmental lawlessness by exploring alternative sociopolitical relations and lifestyles. Guided by their writing, the main aim here is to show how these PRB writer-activists are making visible the environmental emergencies by documenting the escalating sociopolitical and ecological struggles within the Amazon regions and to expose further the ecological reality of those living in the margins.
Drafts by Rupert M. Medd
Rupert J. M. Medd, words and photographs, www.instagram.com/eyesotherwise
Hélène Guyot, illustrations, www.firstrainofsummer.com
port authorities and marine protection societies. These voices speak from a position of ecocosmopolitanism on wide-ranging issues such as indifference, world-systems, modernity, ecological literatures, a common geostory, biosemiotics, the Anthropocene as well as Planetary Boundaries. By acknowledging that the World Ocean and its qualities have come to symbolise a fluid globalising world economy, alternative themes surface such as permeability, flows, agencies, loss, renewed sense of place, cross-species entanglements, peace and sustainability. The debates edge along fairly freely yet engage with three original ideas, namely: (1) plastic pollution may impact the climate more severely than the actual circulating concepts on climate change; (2) critical levels in
the environment have been reached and this should, therefore, be part of a Planetary Boundary within “Novel entities” as it adversely affects the Earth’s systems; and (3) the question of language and how new education curricula centred around ecolinguistics and a shared geostory would better inform our environmental relations and altruistic natures. As presented here, plastic pollution is at its heart a debate involving a moral
reassessment and appreciation of Planet Ocean, which constitutes our greatest personal gift – the “common heritage of humankind.”
Here, the travel narratives of two prominent Peruvian figures are analyzed: José Uriel García from Cusco and Aurelio Miró Quesada Sosa from Lima. Together, they provide valuable evidence about two different responses to the modernization of Peru while also representing the nation's significant sociogeographical divides. The focus is on questions of history, coloniality/modernity, national identity, and natural resources such as water and wood. It is hoped that this will contribute to literary studies on travel and the environment.
Includes illustrations by French artist Hélène Guyot.
The Pierced Veneer " In memories we were rich. We had pierced the veneer of outside things. We had 'suffered, starved and triumphed, grovelled down yet grasped at glory, grown bigger in the bigness of the whole.' We had seen God in His splendours, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man."
Sir Ernest Shackleton, entry in his book, 'South'.
Экологическое беззаконие: преступления против природы – необходимость наказания.
1 сентября 2014 года защитник окружающей среды Эдвин Чота (Edwin Chota) вместе с тремя другими членами его сообщества были убиты в пограничных районах Амазонии, в попытке приостановить нелегальную вырубку леса и добычу полезных ископаемых. Это был отголосок широко обсуждаемого в СМИ дела Чико Мендеса (Chico Mendes), профсоюзного лидера и эколога, убитого в Акре, Амазония, Бразилия, в 1988 году.
Подобная жестокость по отношению к тем, кто упорно выступает в защиту мировых экосистем, отражается на всех нас. Эти люди привлекают всеобщее внимание к теме глобального изменения климата и необходимости принятия юридических мер на пути решения общемирового экологического кризиса.
Они также напоминают нам о настойчивом призыве со стороны Организации Объединенных Наций и ведущих мировых научно-исследовательских организаций о необходимости «всеобщей защиты» окружающей среды. Если бы подобной защите был присвоен официальный статус, то все, кто имел мужество и жертвовал своей жизнью ради сохранения жизни на Земле, могли бы работать совместно и выступать официально против экологического беззакония. Это также способствовало бы свершению правосудия в отношении физических лиц, компаний или государств, которые совершают преступления против нашей планеты.
Tello's field notes that comprised his book, Arqueología de Cajamarca: Expedición al Marañon – 1937, being the northern region of the Marañon River-basin, is the principal narrative informing this discussion. The focus is on Tello's uncovering of antique water channels-acequias and an aqueduct, leading him toward an alternative environmental conclusion that was multi-functional. His field notes are explored as 'travel writing' for its exciting heterogeneous capabilities for socio-environmental commentary. As Tello's writings contributed toward processes of decolonisation in Peru, understood as a challenge to the dominance of Eurocentrism, this discussion engages with the notion of "coloniality of power" - a concept developed by social theorists such as Aníbal Quijano and Walter D. Mignolo as to how Peruvian culture and history have been mainly defined by colonial, imperial and global processes.
In 1999 the countries that share the Amazon created an online initiative together with their respective ministries of environment, International Conservation, and the International Center for Journalists. It is titled 'Premio reportaje sobre biodiversidad' (PRB, Award-Winning Articles on Biodiversity). Their objective is to support the professionalism of journalists, travelers, and community groups who cover environmental topics. The vulnerability is clear for those at the front line such as Edwin Chota, who was murdered in the Peruvian Amazon in his attempt to halt illegal logging in 2014.
With a general focus on Peru’s Amazon regions, this form of contemporary resistance and testimonial literature by the underrepresented is confronting globalization through a growing environmental consciousness that acknowledges the importance of biodiversity, sustainable practices, and Indigenous rights. Women writers in particular make extensive use of this online resource in their attempts to confront environmental lawlessness by exploring alternative sociopolitical relations and lifestyles. Guided by their writing, the main aim here is to show how these PRB writer-activists are making visible the environmental emergencies by documenting the escalating sociopolitical and ecological struggles within the Amazon regions and to expose further the ecological reality of those living in the margins.
Rupert J. M. Medd, words and photographs, www.instagram.com/eyesotherwise
Hélène Guyot, illustrations, www.firstrainofsummer.com