Gregg Mitman will speak at the Environmental Humanities Film Screening and Discussion of The Land Beneath Our Feet on October 24, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 208 (Second Floor), Levis Faculty Center (919 W. Illinois Street, Urbana).

The Land Beneath Our Feet follows a young Liberian man, uprooted by war, who returns from the USA with never-before-seen footage of Liberia’s past. The uncovered footage is embraced as a national treasure. Depicting a 1926 corporate land grab, it is also an explosive reminder of eroding land rights. In post-conflict Liberia, individuals and communities are pitted against multinational corporations, the government, and each other in life-threatening disputes over land. What can this ghostly footage offer a nation, as it debates radical land reforms that could empower communities to shape a more diverse, stable and sustainable future?

Dr. Mitman is Vilas Research and William Coleman Professor of History, Medical History, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Sponsored by the Environmental Humanities Research Group. Supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.