Project Poldergeist

Friday, October 25, 2024

11:30am- 12:45pm

Howard Tilton Memorial Library, Room 406 (Taylor Center)

Professor Simon Richter of the University of Pennsylvania will present Project Poldergiest, an ongoing experiment combining video animation and climate science to inform and influence policy makers and the public about difficult and controversial aspects of climate adaptation.

Moderated by Adam Marcus, Associate Professor of Architecture and Research Director of Tulane’s Center on Climate Change and Urbanism. Lunch will be served.

Presenter Bio: Simon Richter is the Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His research and teaching concern the cultural dimensions of climate adaptation and resilience generally, with a focus on how delta cities are responding to accelerated sea level rise in Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, and Indonesia.

As an environmental humanist, Simon engages in activities that blur distinctions between traditional scholarship, urban design, and environmental activism. In 2018/19, he was a member of One Resilient Semarang, an international team of urban designers, hydrological engineers, ecologists, and urban and environmental activists. Semarang is a coastal city in North-Central Java that is rapidly subsiding.

In 2020, he was a member of One Architecture's team in the Resilience by Design program for the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam. In 2021, he started Project Poldergeist, an experiment in storytelling, creative reflection, intercultural awareness, and collaboration through animated video, accessible on the Poldergeist YouTube channel.

He is co-director of the Penn Animation as Research Lab. In 2023, with comedian Patrick Nederkoorn and filmmaker Maria Kolossa, he produced A New Peace of Münster a documentary about possible climate migration along the Dutch-German border.

Questions? Please reach out to ccu@tulane.edu