In the age of ecological crisis, and as our dependence on technology and time we spent in front of screens increases, there is a critical awareness that our phenomenological seeing, experiencing, and understanding of the lived-world is implicated by how we identify and interact with the world around us. This interdisciplinary presentation explores the phenomena of the selfie photograph and how it might relate to the ecological self—our emotional bond and connection with nature. Critical questions around the complex and embodied experience of taking a selfie photo—considering elements of identity formation, self-expression, and relationality—arising through my work in the field of outdoor environmental education will be explored. I ask: how might technology use influence a students’ ability to see, experience, and understand the natural world? How might selfies position the subject and the object? In turn, I question what Mother Nature’s selfie might look like, and what stories it might tell? Might it be possible to shift selfies as a method for engaging students with a sense of wonder and curiosity in the world?
The aim of this interactive workshop is to set out on an exploration of the selfie phenomena, considering how its performance might give meaning to our interpretations of, and relationships to, the natural world, and how we might (re) negotiate this embodied experience through restoring the division between the subject and the object. Two pedagogical extensions will be offered—revealing the unfamiliar aspects of our familiar environments and providing opportunities to be in the world—include the “being lost” and “walking". Drawing inspiration from the phenomenological frameworks of Martin Heidegger’s being-in-the-world and poetic dwelling, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s notion of embodied experience as sense perception, participants will be called upon to bring nature, the body, and place into their consciousness through activities of photography, walking, and embodying the natural world. Participants are asked to bring their cell phone, tablet or other device (if they have one), and come prepared to venture outdoors (weather dependent).
Special Requests
For this workshop we request that participants bring their cell phone/tablet (if they have one). We will also require A/V set up in our presentation space.
The aim of this interactive workshop is to set out on an exploration of the selfie phenomena, considering how its performance might give meaning to our interpretations of, and relationships to, the natural world, and how we might (re) negotiate this embodied experience through restoring the division between the subject and the object. Two pedagogical extensions will be offered—revealing the unfamiliar aspects of our familiar environments and providing opportunities to be in the world—include the “being lost” and “walking". Drawing inspiration from the phenomenological frameworks of Martin Heidegger’s being-in-the-world and poetic dwelling, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s notion of embodied experience as sense perception, participants will be called upon to bring nature, the body, and place into their consciousness through activities of photography, walking, and embodying the natural world. Participants are asked to bring their cell phone, tablet or other device (if they have one), and come prepared to venture outdoors (weather dependent).
Special Requests
For this workshop we request that participants bring their cell phone/tablet (if they have one). We will also require A/V set up in our presentation space.