This semester’s theme of Climate—Consequences—Curriculum sits at the intersection of what might be termed ‘ephemeral’ and ‘material’ worlds, terminology coined by the economist Ed Conway, one belonging to the world(s) of ideas, concepts, imaginings and the other to the world(s) of the consequential sites of those imaginings: the mines, landscapes, wars, reservoirs where the stuff we depend on is produced. Six materials have shaped the modern world: sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium. To that list we might also add a seventh: labour. Africa’s history and destiny is inextricably linked to the story of the seven deadly components of the material world, but its contribution to the ephemeral world is less known or understood. This lecture, in response to the semester’s prompt is delivered as part of Visiting Professor Lesley Lokko’s engagement with the staff and students of UCD Architecture. It will seek to place pedagogy and curriculum at the heart of an emerging field of knowledge that turns the narrative of a continent defined by its raw materials and human resource (labour) on its head. Africa truly is ‘The Laboratory of the Future.’
Location: Memorial Hall, Richview, University College Dublin
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