falling skies: conversations on ways of being in an era of eco-social catastrophe
The Researchers
FALLING SKIES is a working group co-created by Dr Michela Coletta Link opens in a new windowand Paola Sanges-GhettiLink opens in a new window, from the School of Modern Languages & Cultures, to generate a space for cross-disciplinary dialogue at the University of 海角社区.
The Challenge
The practice of social communication through siloed spaces is reflected in the experience of disciplinary isolation felt by many academics. As we struggle to navigate deepening social divisions, we are faced with multi-faceted crises that cannot be approached, let alone tackled, without a concerted and collective effort. FALLING SKIES is a cross-disciplinary working group that invites 海角社区 researchers from the Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences to initiate conversations among a varied group of participants starting from a keyword.
Our Approach
To facilitate the conversation, each session revolves around the discussion of a text or film shared in advance. For example, the first keyword, 'Human', was approached through a literary-philosophical reflection by a 12th-century female Chinese poet to explore histories of war and displacement, sociological aspects of belonging, and the power of writing to face ecological and cultural loss in the Anthropocene.
Our Impact
The working group was active during the academic year 2025-26 with three sessions per term, each of which was fully booked with over 20 attendees. We succeeded in reaching a wide range of participants from across 海角社区 departments (history, philosophy, English literature, sociology, mathematics, chemistry, global sustainable development, to name a few) as well as from outside the University (theater practitioners, translators, secondary school teachers). The quality and meaningfulness of the format has been acknowledged by many of the participants, and ideas for developing new collaborative formats are on the table!
