As the twenty-first century rolls by, the environment is set to remain at the forefront of scholarly pursuits. This is not merely because of the environment’s interdisciplinary appeal, also because of the apocalyptic urgency that the global climate change has raised. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the UBD seeks to explore the environmental issues through as many thematic and conceptual lenses as possible within the broader fields of humanities and social sciences. The FASS research cluster “The Environment and Transformations” will facilitate research and other academic activities to meet this objective.

The key thrust of the cluster is to promote studies of transformative power of nature, both in its destructive and formative manifestations. With the onset of the Anthropocene, especially since the mid-20th century, attention has been on unsustainable human encounter with nature and consequent “revenge” from it, something that Friedrich Engels alerted about in his Dialectics of Nature. Examples of nature ‘s revenge include ecological and social impacts of multipurpose dams, surge of zoonotic diseases like Covid-19, and countless effects of global warming. Yet it is the same human species that has raised alarm about environmental challenges and have—through arts, literature, ideas, policies, activism, technologies and spiritual appeals—sought to rekindle the love and need for restoration of nature. To maintain a sustainable planetary system that sooths the existential anxieties of both human and more-than-human actors, it is crucial to understand the transformative forces of nature from inside-out.

The cluster seeks research collaboration with colleagues from within FASS, UBD as well as institutions across the world. Invitations are extended to interested graduate students to work with colleagues attached to the cluster. Collaborative and individual research and graduate projects could connect to the broader objectives of the cluster as outlined above, but projects on other related areas are also welcome.

Cluster Lead:
Iftekhar Iqbal
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Conference — Fluid Phenomena: Re-engaging Rivers in the Anthropocene

Call for Papers

Date: 27 February 2023
Virtual and Physical (in Brunei)
Organizer: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei.

The conference aims to explore the ‘life-world’ of the rivers that have shaped the ecological, economic, cultural and political processes affecting both human and more-than-human lives. The conference-led publications will develop interdisciplinary conceptual and methodological tools for river studies with a focus on four broad thematic areas:

• Spiritual engagements, literature, folklores, paintings and other creative representations of the river.
• River as a site of immobility, mobility as well as cosmopolitan entanglements.
• Ecological and economic changes that have mutually shaped river systems, especially since the 1950s.
• Impacts of policies and practices on river systems and corresponding popular responses.

Current research projects under E&T

• Spirituality, literature, folklores, paintings and other creative representations of the river.
• River as a site of mobility and cosmopolitan entanglements.
• Ecological and economic changes that have mutually shaped river systems, especially since the 1950s.
• Impacts of policy and practices on river systems and corresponding public responses.

• Iftekhar Iqbal (PI)
• Asiyah AA Kumpoh
• Noor Hasharina Hassan
• Meredian Alam