Biography
Beth Quick is a 3rd year PhD student at Drew Theological School, where she focuses on Christianity and Ecology with an emphasis on Animal Studies. Beth is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, and before returning to school, she pastored in local churches in New York and New Jersey for 17 years. Currently, Beth works as the Senior Coach and Curriculum Coordinator for CreatureKind, an organization seeking the liberation of animals, people, and the earth.
Paper Abstract
My paper examines the concept of ecogrief and how to respond to ecogrief in ways that produce hope but not denial. Ashlee Cunsolo and Neville R. Ellis define ecogrief as "the grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species, ecosystems and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental change." (1) Ecogrief, then, is both about what we have lost and what we expect to lose - realized grief and impending grief at the same time. When we grieve the death of a loved one, or when we are facing an imminent death, accepting the reality of death is a necessary part of any healing process and hopeful future. What deaths and what processes of dying must we accept in ecogrief? What "end(s) of the world" do we have to accept in order to find hope in the face of the climate crisis? After first examining ecotheologies and ecoactivisms that gloss over ecogrief by denying the death(s) wrought by climate change, I then explore hopeful responses and practices that reckon and wrestle with ecogrief directly. I argue that when we confront death in ecogrief, then we can experience "resurrection," a hope for the earth that does not require denying loss. My paper explores hopeful responses to ecogrief through creative practices of lament, joy, and collective action. (1) Cunsolo & Ellis, "Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss," Nature Climate Change, 8(4), 275.