1 | 2 | 2021 Humanities, Ecocriticism and Multispecies Relations. Proceedings (part I)

Abstract

2021 has been Lagoonscapes's first year of activity. Having passed the 'experimental phase' of the first issue, this second number delves decidedly into the multiple facets of the Environmental Humanities debate. The volume is dedicated to a conference that was held at Ca' Foscari University on 28-29 September 2020. The prestigious Venetian sixteenth-century aula magna, the lecture hall, embellished with antique stuccos and Murano chandeliers, hosted an international meeting of scholars, at a very particular historical moment: the first pandemic wave of SARS-CoV2. There was not yet full awareness of the duration of the emergency on the world scene; therefore, almost as in an unreal stillness before the storm, the works took place at the prelude to what would later be called the second wave, with its subsequent lockdown period. The conference, dedicated to Environmental Studies from a multidisciplinary perspective, was entitled Humanities, Ecocriticism and Multispecies Relations 1 and today we can say that it was undoubtedly a shining example of the energy that animates our academic debate. More than resilience, which above all today seems to indicate a passive resistance, the participants have witnessed a great desire to meet, to compare their research experiences, trying to develop new philosophies capable of interpreting the role that our species should play in the planet we live on. The very strict rules imposed by the "COVID-19 Risk Management Protocol 1 The event was realised thanks to the funds and collaboration of the Department of Asian and North African Studies, the International Center for the Humanities and So-