Hunger. Death. Destruction of the planet. The human habitation and the earth have been turned into wastelands in the name of progress. Life forms—such as human, plants, animals, and forests—are degraded and destroyed to create new and improved designs of civilization. Modernity, says Zygmunt Bauman, is about “rejecting the world” in order to “change it.” Through photographs and essays, we will look at the portraits of human pain and grace. We will look at what we have (and are) losing with modernity and how we are restoring beauty and hope. This FYS will introduce and engage with documentations that bear testimony to the social cost and hidden splendor of living.

Hyun Sook Kim
Professor of Sociology