The Atmospheric Apparitions mini-symposium on Sept 18-19 2025 is free and open to the public. We encourage you to visit the departmental Atmospheric Apparitions: Particle Pollutants – Dust, Ash, Smog and Smoke! exhibition in the Liu Lobby Gallery on view from July 21-Sept 26, 2025.
DAY 1 – Thursday, Sept 18, 2025
Creative, Arts-based, and Cultural Geographies of Atmospheres
Welcome and Day 1 Introductions
10 am: PECHA KUCHA – with UBC Geography Artists
Moderator: Gillian Der (MA student, UBC Geography)
Location: GEOG 229
11 am LECTURE: “Artistic Experiments with Heat’s Atmospheres and Animacies”
with Dr. Sasha Engelmann (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Respondent: Judee Burr (PhD candidate, UBC Geography)
Location: GEOG 229
Please see here for our Guest Speaker’s Abstract and Bio
12 pm LUNCH + Discussion: “Arts-based and Creative Methodologies in Geography”
with Dr. Javier Arbona (University of California, Davis)
Location: GEOG 215D
2 – 4 pm BREAK
Self-Guided Tour Options:
– Belkin Outdoor Art Decolonization Tour
– Visit the Museum of Anthropology – Rebecca Belmore: Value
– Visit the Belkin Gallery – Abbas Akhavan: One Hundred Years
– Visit the Beaty Biodiversity Museum or the Pacific Museum of Earth
(Free Admission with your UBC ID)
4 pm LIGHT REFRESHMENTS and “Atmospheric Apparitions” Exhibition
Location: Liu Lobby Gallery and Courtyard
4:30 – 6 pm EVENING LECTURE and Book Discussion: “after explosivity, what remains?”
with Dr. Javier Arbona (University of California, Davis)
Explosivity: Following What Remains, UMinnesota Press, 2025
Respondent: Peter Hudson (Associate Professor, UBC Geography)
Location: Liu Institute – The xʷθəθiqətəm or Place of Many Trees
Lecture Co-Sponsored by Public Humanities Hub
Please see here for our Guest Speaker’s Abstract and Bio
DAY 2 – Friday, Sept 19, 2025
Critical Cartographies and Environmental Histories of Toxicants / Pollutants
Welcome and Day 2 Introductions
11 am LECTURE: “Counter-cartographies of Atmospheric Trespass”
with Dr. Elsa Noterman (University of Nottingham)
Respondent: Bella Pojuner (PhD student, UBC Geography)
Location: GEOG 229
Please see here for our Guest Speaker’s Abstract and Bio
12 pm LUNCH + Teach-In and Syllabus Workshop: “Thinking Like a Chemical”
with Dr. Jessica Varner (University of Pennsylvania)
Facilitator: Tam-anh Nguyen (MA student, UBC Geography)
Location: GEOG 229
Please see here for our Guest Speaker’s Abstract and Bio
2 pm BREAK
2:30 pm LECTURE and Book Discussion: “Toxicant Masculinity: Chemical Gaslighting for the Undoable Science of Toxicology”
with Dr. Melina Packer (University of Wisconsin–La Crosse)
Toxic Sexual Politics, NYU Press, 2025
Respondent: Estraven Lupino-Smith (PhD student, UBC Geography)
Location: GEOG 229
Please see here for our Guest Speaker’s Abstract and Bio
3:30 – 4:30 pm: UBC Geography Artist Workshop + Teach-in
1) Plein Air Painting Workshop with Alec Blair (Lecturer, UBC Geography)
2) Particulate Mobilities and Global Asias Teach-in with James Pangilinan (PhD candidate, UBC Geography)
Facilitator: Tam-anh Nguyen (MA student, UBC Geography)
Location: Geography Building Courtyard
Acknowledgement: This work is generously supported by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant, the Liu Lobby Gallery, and the Public Humanities Hub.
