Living in a Time of Social and Climate Crisis: Musings on the Importance of Trans-Disciplinarity

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Keywords:

trans-disciplinarity, critical theory, feminism, praxis, eco-criticism

Abstract

How do we navigate a world in crisis? Headlines are replete with escalating environmental, social, and economic catastrophes. Anxieties grow as many experience the weight of inertia set in, not for lack of concern but rather for concern over the material realities—trying to keep those we love safe, housed, and fed. Yet, what if we could see, much like civil rights activist Septima Clark (ca.1910–ca.1990), chaos as a giftan opportunity to (re)build a more just world? This essay explores possibilities via storytelling, the study of diverse disciplinary thought, and work on the land: a path that has highlighted the power and promise of diverse ways of knowing, being in, and caring for the world and the critical need for trans-disciplinary studies, work, and dialogue as we, to paraphrase Arundhati Roy (2020), begin to fashion the world anew.

Author Biography

Rebecca A. Matthew, University of Georgia

Rebecca A. Matthew, PhD, LMSW, MPH (she/her) is Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, GA (ramatthew@uga.edu).

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Published

2025-09-29

How to Cite

Matthew, R. A. (2025). Living in a Time of Social and Climate Crisis: Musings on the Importance of Trans-Disciplinarity. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 31(3), 11–21. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/2097

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