Luis I. Prádanos (Iñaki)

Miami University

“The Pedagogy of Degrowth: Teaching in the Age of Social Inequality and Ecological Collapse”

In the current context of climate change, unacceptable social inequality, and ecological collapse humanities professors cannot continue teaching as if we were not losing from 40 to 200 species a day. For that reason, Iñaki designed “the pedagogy of degrowth.” In this presentation, he will elaborate on three aspects of his teaching method: (1) the strategy of “unlearning by reversed critical pedagogy”, (2) a meta-pedagogical critique of existing teaching materials and contents within the traditional humanities curriculum, and (3) the incorporation of indigenous pedagogies from the Andes. As a result, the classroom becomes a dynamic community of (un)learning where students’ innovation and creativity is used to analyze current socioecological pressing problems and to imagine post-carbon cultures.

Biography

Luis I. Prádanos (Iñaki) is an Associate Professor of Hispanic Contemporary Studies at Miami University. His research focuses on ecocritical theory and environmental humanities in relation to Contemporary Iberian and Latin American cultures. Specifically, Iñaki’s work combines cultural studies, critical theory, and ecological economics. In the last four years, he has published 15 articles on these topics and has completed a book manuscript titled Postgrowth Imaginaries. New Ecologies and Counterhegemonic Culture in Post-2008 Spain. Iñaki has taught several courses on topics related to environmental humanities, urban ecology, postgrowth economics and cultures, and material ecocriticism. Some of his recent articles focus on the pedagogical implications of taking seriously the ongoing global socioecological crisis: “The Pedagogy of Degrowth."