Earth and Mineral Sciences

'EMS Reads' speaker to discuss influence of politics, racism on climate change

Laura Pulido, Collins Chair and professor of Indigenous, race, and ethnic studies and geography at the University of Oregon, will give the keynote for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ 2024 EMS Reads program at 6 p.m. on Wednesday Nov. 13, in Paterno Library's Foster Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus. Credit: Courtesy of Laura Pulido. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Laura Pulido, Collins Chair and professor of Indigenous, race, and ethnic studies and geography at the University of Oregon, is the featured speaker for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ 2024 EMS Reads program. She will give the keynote lecture at 6 p.m. on Wednesday Nov. 13, in Paterno Library's Foster Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus.

A reception following the talk will be held in the EMS Museum and Gallery in 6 Deike Building. Both events are free and open to the public. Register at this link for Pulido's talk.

Pulido’s talk is a follow-up to last spring’s EMS Reads which focused on Heather McGhee’s book, “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together,” in which McGhee examines how racism hurts all people and is at the heart of our country’s most pressing policy challenges.

Pulido will talk about race and sustainability, helping attendees to better understand the costs of racism to climate, and how white nationalism has become linked to climate obstruction.  

Pulido is a leading scholar in the field of environmental justice. She is a qualitative social scientist who works at the intersection of geography and critical ethnic studies, especially Chicanx Studies. Pulido has published six books in her field and was awarded two Globe Book Awards for Public Understanding of Geography. She has received numerous honors for her work, including the Presidential Achievement Award, the Distinguished Scholarship Award and the Harold M. Rose Award for Anti-Racism Research and Practice from the Association of American Geographers. She also was awarded the Cullum Geographical Medal from the American Geographic Society. She testified before Congress and was named a Guggenheim Fellow.

Pulido earned her bachelor of arts in geography from the California State University, Fresno, her master’s degree in geography from the University of Wisconsin, and her doctorate in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Pulido’s talk is also sponsored by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Sustainability Office and Department of Geography.

The EMS Reads program is hosted by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Educational Equity Office as part of efforts to build a welcoming culture supportive of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging by featuring readings and discussions on books that foster in-depth thoughts on diversity topics.

Last Updated October 31, 2024

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