In February 2020, a group of Kanaka ‘Ōiwi cultural practitioners arrived in Cambridge, England, to repatriate ancestral remains stolen from Hawaiʻi in the late nineteenth century. This article explores the possession, return, and interpretation of these remains, specifically 14 iwi poʻo (human skulls) originating from the Pali, an important historic battle site in the Koʻolau mountain range of Oʻahu. In telling the story of their possession and dispossession, I draw upon theories of haunting from Indigenous studies and Black studies in order to challenge the way that settler colonial structures work to limit and potentially foreclose Hawaiian relationships to spiritual presence and placemaking. Drawing upon the Native Hawaiian concept of hoʻopahulu, which encompasses both spectrality and the exhaustion of land from over-farming in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), this article highlights connections between land, spirit, and haunting that provide a more comprehensive framework for understanding spectral placemaking beyond colonial geographies. In doing so, I argue against possessive logics, showing how contemporary Hawaiian cultural geogrpahies fundamentally refuse, upend, and replant relations that exceed the American state.

This event is co-sponsored by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability

For full details, visit: https://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/event/environment-forum-hi%E2%80%99ilei-hobart-what-returns-what-remains-story-about-hawaiian

Hear from these panelists about climate justice at the local level at an upcoming event hosted by CEEPIC and HES3C: Dr. Alison Brizius, Environmental Commissioner at City of Boston Katherine Gajewski, Partner at City Scale Jessie Buendia, Vice President of Sustainability and National Director of Green For All at Dream.Org

Join us for the Boston Premiere of Hollow Tree, hosted by History Design Studio and co-sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Director Kira Akerman, Producer Monique Walton, and the 3 protagonists. Moderated by Walter Johnson with an Introduction by Vincent Brown. This event is the first in the Swamp Capitalism Event Series convened by History Design Studio Fellow Robin McDowell. We extend special thanks to the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Dean Bridget Long for their generous support. Free and open to the public. Advance tickets highly recommended. About the Film: Hollow Tree follows three teenagers coming of age in their sinking homeland of Louisiana. For the first time, they notice the Mississippi River’s engineering, stumps of cypress trees, and billowing smokestacks. Their different perspectives — as Indigenous, white, and Angolan young women — shape their story of the climate crisis. The 73-minute award-winning documentary, directed by Kira Akerman and produced by Monique Walton and Chachi Hauser, invites three young women, who did not previously know each other, to learn with the director, filmmaking team, and their respective communities. Mekenzie Fanguy (Houma, Louisiana) was born on coastal bayous and is a member of the United Houma Nation; Annabelle Pavy (Lafayette, Louisiana) is from a mostly white community, where climate change is largely viewed as a myth; and Tanielma Da Costa (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) immigrated from Angola, Africa when she was 6. They travel to different sites along the Mississippi River, where they engage in dialogue with engineers, activists, and Indigenous leaders. As these young women notice their surroundings, they begin to imagine Louisiana's past — its history of slavery, Indigenous dispossession, and colonization — and, by extension, Louisiana's future. The one that they will experience and help to shape.

On February 29th, a series of attacks were carried out across Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, by heavily armed criminal gangs. Since that moment, thousands of Haitians have been displaced or rendered homeless. According to the UN, over 1500 people have been killed. Food insecurity has spiked across the country, with severe nutritional impacts, particularly on children. Limits to movement and personal safety have threatened the functioning of the health system and other essential services, resulting in a rapidly changing systemic social crisis. The current events are also occurring within a longer-term crisis in Haiti of weak governance, inequality, and systemic disruptions. New data on population mobility and conflict dynamics helps shed light on how the violence impacts communities across the island and the need for practical and sustained local civil society and health system response efforts. Please join us for an in-depth discussion of the current and evolving violence in Haiti as it continues to impact health and humanitarian needs.

Xavier Cortada's art serves as a bridge between science and community, transforming public spaces into platforms for climate storytelling and experiential learning. His interdisciplinary practice demonstrates how socially engaged art can cultivate a broad base of people who champion environmental justice and help build the political will necessary for systemic change. A Miami-based artist, Cortada will discuss his innovative approach to stimulating public discourse and ultimately galvanizing action around sea level rise.

Locked in a Hotbox: The Impact of Climate Change on the Incarcerated will be a critical examination of how climate change impacts people who are incarcerated. Many jails and prisons are inadequately equipped to handle extreme weather, exposing people who are confined within them to unique health vulnerabilities.

Plants have long been deemed passive organisms with “hardwired” or “inflexible” behavior. However, a growing body of empirical research reveals that plants exhibit cognitive capabilities traditionally attributed to animals. And yet, controversies over these scientific findings have recently intensified.
In this talk, Paco Calvo will reflect on the current challenges faced by the field of plant signaling and behavior, including risks of underdelivering and strategies to avoid biases that may lead to overinterpreting results. This talk aims to spark multidisciplinary dialogue around the question of plant cognition and event sentience, and to foster renewed scientific curiosity into the rich cognitive landscape of green companions.
About Paco: Paco Calvo is a renowned cognitive scientist and philosopher of biology, known for his groundbreaking research in the field of plant cognition and intelligence. He is a professor at the University of Murcia in Spain, where he leads the Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), focusing on the study of minimal cognition in plants. Calvo’s interdisciplinary work combines insights from biology, philosophy, and cognitive science to explore the fascinating world of plant behavior, decision-making, and problem-solving.