The Center for Humans and Nature is an ideas hub focused on exploring and nurturing humanity’s understanding of and responsibilities to the natural world. Through its digital and print press, the Center brings together philosophers, ecologists, artists, political scientists, anthropologists, poets, and economists to think creatively about a resilient future for the whole community of life.
Located in Libertyville, Illinois, the Center’s campus is a workspace for Chicago-based staff, a retreat center for thought-leaders, a laboratory in which to practice land-relationship ideas, and a welcoming space for periodic public events.
There’s a certain a kind of visual encounter that can be life changing: A cross-species gaze. The experience of looking directly into the eyes of an animal in the wild, and seeing it look back.
If plants are intelligent beings, how should we relate to them? Do they have a place in our moral universe? Should they have rights?