The concept of the “Anthropocene”—a proposed geological epoch defined by humanity’s overwhelming impact on Earth—has sparked intense debate across the sciences and humanities. On Monday, January 26, 2026, the Posthumanism Research Institute (PRI) at Brock University will explore these tensions in a virtual roundtable titled “Competing and Contrasting Conceptions of the Anthropocene: In Search of Unity.”
This event comes at a pivotal moment. While the Anthropocene Working Group spent 15 years building a case for this new epoch—identifying Crawford Lake, just north of Brock University, as the “golden spike” reference site—the Commission on Stratigraphy recently declined to officially adopt the term. Despite this, the concept remains a crucial descriptor for our current reality, where human activity rivals natural forces in shaping the planet.
The roundtable will feature experts Martin Head, Francine McCarthy, Stefan Herbrechter, and Hannah Spector. Together, they will navigate questions that go beyond geology: Who “owns” the term Anthropocene? Is it merely a scientific classification, or a philosophical wake-up call? The discussion will also touch on alternative frameworks like the “Capitalocene” and “Technocene,” urging a shift toward a posthuman worldview that rethinks our entanglement with the natural world.
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