The Anglocene
An investigation into the influence of Judeo-Christian theologies on the environmental philosophy of South Korea.
By Rose Mayer and Mason Kirkpatrick
Progress Update |
The main structure for our situated research is a two pronged investigation (that builds off our first Anglocene Lab anglocene-lab-1-11-19-18.html) into one, the effects of Judeo-Christian theologies on environmental policy, and two, how Judeo-Christian theologies historically gained strength in South Korea. When we combine these investigative ideas we will be able to craft a relationship between Judeo-Christian theologies in South Korea and how they may have influenced the environmental policy of South Korea. Lynn White’s “Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis” will serve as a guiding text for the Judeo-Christian theological aspect of our research to potentially observe a relationship between these theologies and environmental policy. We will also be looking at a number of separate texts that relate to Judeo-Christian theologies in South Korea specifically as they relate to their environmental policy. By combining these two aspect of our research we will be able to assess whether or not there is a relationship between the two and assess why or why not.
Our research provided us resources that can be split into two categories that also correspond with our situating and framing aspects. Our situating resources contextualize the religious history of South Korea and allows us to create a timeline of its transition to more western Judeo-Christian practices. The most challenging aspect of finding adequate situating resources was being able to find pieces that discuss the invasivity of every Judeo-Christian religion. Many of our situating resources discuss the introduction of specific religions; this requires us to build a timeline that includes the collective information that we have acquired. Our other sources support our framing research and discuss the connection between Judeo-Christian religion and ecological degradation. |
The challenge with our framing question was determining the significance of a piece and its legitimacy. Does the subjectivity of authors obstruct us from conducting impartial research? Our entire project is based upon Lynn White’s keynote piece, which is incredibly partial and visibly subjective. However, it is also a widely discussed and cited source that holds significance in ongoing scientific and religious dialogue. Making that decision between subjectivity and significance was a considerable challenge to overcome. During one of the in class working sessions, our professor emphasized the importance of significance and prioritize how much impact a resource has had. However, the overarching challenge that will continue throughout our research is connecting our framing question to our situated location in a way that is backed up by fact and is legitimate research that does not minimize the significance of religion and its relation to South Korea as well as ecological degradation.
Looking towards the future, we also must determine the relative significance of each religion and how it plays into our research question. In addition to this we must also expand our concept map as we gather and organize more information. The main challenge that I for see us having is connecting our framing question to our situated region with legitimacy. On top of all this we must also continue to do gather more, helpful, sources as well as extract relevant information from them. |