Plants in Africa and the Global South: Multi-Species Materialities, Ecologies, and Aesthetics (MMEA), co-convened by Abidemi Babatunde Babalola and Vera-Simone Schulz at the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine (online).

This seminar series brings together researchers, artists and practitioners interested in plants in Africa and the Global South to discuss methodological questions concerning plant research in the humanities and social sciences on and beyond the African continent. Mmea is the Kiswahili word for "plant." What methods are promising for studying plant epistemologies in Africa? What methods are suitable for working across disciplines, such as the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences, but also with disciplines outside of the academy, including Indigenous knowledge systems? What are the methodological specificities of doing plant research in the Global South? Which methods are useful for research practices that are attentive to the practices of plant practitioners and research that is committed to social justice and climate justice? What methodological innovations come out of plant research concerning interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, as well as approaches that incorporate artistic research? What specific forms for documenting, presenting and communicating plant research evolve in these activities? The seminar series is concerned with plants in diverse contexts and disciplines, including but not limited to Indigenous knowledge systems, botany and plant sciences, food, medicine, horticulture, plant collecting institutions like herbaria and botanical gardens, literature, and the arts.

PROGRAM (2023-2024 )

Thursday, October 12, 2023 10:00 am to 11:30 am EDT
Ali Gholamifard (Lorestan University): Flagship Species of Lizards and Plants of Iran: A Measure for Indicating Biodiversity

Thursday, November 9, 2023 10:00 am to 11:30 am EST
James Wachira (University of Nairobi): NarRating Plants in Kenyan Verbal Arts

Thursday, December 14, 2023 10:00 am to 11:30 am EST
Elena Agudio (Villa Romana) and Marleen Boschen (Goldsmiths, University of London / Tate): Testing Grounds / Seeding Worlds: Intersections of Art and Ecology in the Garden of Villa Romana, Florence

Thursday, January 11, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EST
Sumana Roy (Ashoka University): The Quest for the Plant Script

Thursday, February 8, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EST
Semih Celik (University of Exeter): 'A Museum in the Cradle of Civilization': The Imperial Natural History Museum in Istanbul and its Aftermath (1836-1870)

Thursday, March 14, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EDT
Taiye Fasola (University of Ibadan): Medicinal Plants and Conservation in the Botany Department, University of Ibadan

Thursday, April 11, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EDT
Chanelle Adams (University of Lausanne): Volatile Oils: 'Wellness', Political Power, and the Market for Ravintsara Essential Oil in Madagascar

Thursday, May 9, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EDT
Neda Saeedi (Tehran / Berlin): "Swear by the Fig, Swear by the Olive"
(this lecture explores urban and territorial landscapes and their flora, used to justify land ownership and deprivation in conflict zones)

Thursday, June 13, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EDT
Sahar Bazzaz (College of the Holy Cross): Plants of the Red Sea Littoral: PE Botta's Expedition to Yemen, 1836

Thursday, July 11, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EDT
Maxmillian J Chuhila (University of Dar es Salaam): Green Imperialism and Biomedical Campaigns in Colonial Tanganyika

Thursday, September 12, 2024 10:00 am to 11:30 am EDT
Guillermo Pupo Pernet (University of Arkansas): Achiote: Painting the Town Red

All sessions take place online at 10 am Philadelphia time. Everyone is welcome to attend. You receive the zoom link by becoming a member for free here: https://www.chstm.org/content/plants-africa-and-global-south-multi-species-materialities-ecologies-and-aesthetics-mmea