Making Kin and Attending to Place in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Environmental humanities scholars are studying the ways in which human lives are knotted together with other beings, for better or worse. At the same time, many of these scholars are calling for a reconceptualization or ‘improvement’ of human/nonhuman relationships. Stemming from these ideas, this portfolio explores the ways in which connections to place and other-than-human beings were made during the Covid-19 pandemic. The global pandemic has been a disrupting force and as such, has greatly influenced the ways in which people are living their daily lives. The first portion of this portfolio examines the ways in which participants related to ‘nature’ before and during the pandemic; the ways in which they were engaged with the nonhuman world around them during their interactions; the connections they made between places and beings; the ways in which ‘pandemic living’ helped them to form connections; and the reflections participants made about the conditions leading up to the pandemic, and the possible futures that may result from it. These findings are based on interviews with sixteen other MES students. This portion concludes with possible implications for environmental education, which is also broadly concerned with the ‘improvement’ of multispecies relations. The second part of this portfolio is a narrative-style autoethnography that examines the narratives and actions that affect relationships to place, specifically one’s familiar ‘home place,’ and considers some of the ethical considerations of being a ‘good neighbor.’ Both pieces examine the different ways relationships formed with place and other-than-human beings, as well as the relationships themselves, during the Covid-19 pandemic.