The mountain ranges of Peru are considered some of the most critical “climate laboratories” of the world. World-renowned climate scientists travel there to monitor global climate change in the receding glaciers of the Andes. The Quechua alpaca herders living at the edges of these glaciers are likewise producing knowledge and theory about a changing world. In their daily lived experience, Indigenous herders sense and make sense of changing socioecological conditions through subtle shifts in their interactions with humans, animals, and landscapes. In doing so, they draw our attention to the complicated practices of being-in-relation with others, and the precarity of these relationships in a time of global instability. By analyzing climate change from the ground up, this project asks what the alpaca herders of the Andes can tell us about the state of the planet.

The Sandeen Lecture in the Humanities is named for the founding director of the Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research, Dr. Eric Sandeen. Each year, fellows in the Humanities Research Group vote to decide who among them will deliver this annual faculty lecture. The process shows that the winner has the respect of their peers and that their work showcases some of the finest humanities research on campus.

Dr. Allison Caine is a cultural anthropologist with a research focus on the environment, climate change, rural health, and wellbeing. She works primarily with Quechua alpaca herders in Peru, with ties to sheep ranching in Wyoming. Her research in Peru takes a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to understanding contemporary environmental problems

The lecture will also be livestreamed. More information here: https://www.uwyo.edu/humanities/sandeen-lecture.html. Email humanities@uwyo.edu for questions or to request a parking pass.

Reception to follow in the Cooper House.