Land Use, Environment ’25-26 Topic
The complex interplay between land use and the environment — particularly issues related to green technologies, biodiversity and health — is at the heart of the Washington and Lee University Roger Mudd Center for Ethics’ 2025-26 series, “Taking Place: Land Use and Environmental Impact.”
Through a public lecture series, symposium, photographic exhibition, documentary viewing and community engagements, the Mudd Center will analyze various meanings of “taking place” and the ethics of how we use and manage the natural environment and land resources.
“We’re thrilled about this year’s theme, shaped by student interest, faculty research and the university’s strategic plan, which makes environmental stewardship a top priority,” said Melissa Kerin, the director of the Mudd Center and professor of art history. “Working with campus partners – from the environmental studies program to the Office of Sustainability and Energy Education – and local groups like Boxerwood Educational Association, we’ve put together a program that explores ethical questions around land use as well as emphasizes applied ethical action.”
The lecture series kicks off at 5:10 p.m. this Thursday, Sept. 11, in W&L’s Stackhouse Theater with a keynote address by Thea Riofrancos, associate professor of political science at Providence College. The lecture, “The Ethics of Extraction: How ‘Green’ is the Energy Transition?” is free and open to the public and will also be streamed online at https:// go.wlu.edu/livestream.
Riofrancos’ address is presented in conjunction with the W&L Art Museum and Galleries’ exhibit “Taking Place,” with works by Edward Burtynsky, on view in the Reeves Museum of Ceramics’ Elisabeth S. Gottwald Gallery. The opening reception for the exhibit will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, following Riofrancos’ lecture, and is open to the public.
Drawing from her forthcoming book, “Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism,” Riofrancos will examine “green” technologies dependent on lithium extraction in Chile. Lithium plays a central role in mitigating climate change, but, as Riofrancos will demonstrate, these practices of resource extraction come with deep environmental, human and political consequences. With predictions of an enormous surge in lithium demand, governments and corporations around the world are racing to secure supplies, revealing and reinforcing stark inequalities rooted in the long legacies of colonialism that continue to shape the world’s “extractive frontiers,” the landscapes where raw materials are mined.
In addition to her faculty position at Providence College, she is a strategic codirector of the Climate and Community Institute and a fellow at the Transnational Institute.
For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit the series webpage: https://www.wlu.edu/ mudd-center/programs-andevents/ 2025-2026-takingplace- land-use-and- environmental- impact.
