What is conservation?

The Ethics of Caring is an exploratory project hosted by WhatIsConservation.com where the Creative Team interviews laborers across the heritage sector about how they are leveraging their agency and positions of power to affect positive change within their communities. The first season explores how the concept of collective success embeds itself into collection care activities, what it can be for groups of laborers, and how it can be a guide for developing community sustainably.

• Pausing to read, think, process, and mourn

  https://whatisconservation.com/the-ethics-of-caring-podcast/#ethics-1Thursday, Feb 02, 2023

  We’re taking this week off to give ourselves space to grapple with the ongoing state-sanctioned violence transpiring across the USA. We’ll return with a new episode soon.

• Valuing the self determination of people

  https://whatisconservation.com/the-ethics-of-caring-podcast/#ethics-2Wednesday, Jan 18, 2023

  In this epsiode, Lihi Levie, Tel Aviv- and Berlin-based contemporary art conservator, who speaks with Nupur Prakash, a gender and law expert, on embedding their values into their professional practices. Nupur and Lihi discuss what it means to "decolonize the mind", some of the consequences of the imposed values of the global north, and the agency we have to share expansive thoughts with those around us.  Are you interested in joining us for an online discussion? Hold the date to gather virtually on 15 February 2023 at 9PT/12ET/17GMT/7IST. Support for this podcast is generously provided by the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and the Society of Winterthur Fellows. It is hosted on WhatIsConservation.com.

• Designing sustainable patterns

  https://whatisconservation.com/the-ethics-of-caring-podcast/#ethics-3Wednesday, Jan 04, 2023

  In this episode, we examine sustainability in the context of academic environments, finishing up the conversation with Alma Diamond, NYC-based legal scholar and PhD student from episode 2, "A Beginner's Mind" before hearing from Tina Piracci, artist, engineer, and educator. The conversation gives us space to examine how we can embed sustainability values in our decision making as makers and educators, and looks at two pathways, one emotional and one systematic, for creating balanced and informed lifestyles. 

  We highly recommend you check out some of Tina's projects at https://tinapiracci.com/

  Are you interested in participating in an online discussion? Hold the date to gather virtually on 15 February 2023 at 9PT/12ET/17GMT/7IST.

  Support for this podcast is generously provided by the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and the Society of Winterthur Fellows. It is hosted on WhatIsConservation.com.

  
  

• A beginner's mind

  https://whatisconservation.com/the-ethics-of-caring-podcast/#ethics-4Wednesday, Dec 14, 2022

  In this episode, we hear feedback on the first episode and explore fundamental ideas of the ethics of care - like interdependency as a fundamental state of being and the value of autonomy not as a way to promote self-interest but as a tool to create more relations. We share part of a conversation between Natalya Swanson, host, and Alma Diamond, a constitutional legal scholar and PhD student currently based in New York City where Alma shares her thoughts on devolving power, working in intimate spaces, and accepting complicity. This episode also includes a clip from Adam Tompkison, Bay Area artist and framer, on how he understands conservation work in the context of preserving craft and tattooing. 

  Are you interested in participating in an online discussion? Please reach out on @theethicsofcaringpod on instagram to share you preference of time zone for 15 February 2023!

  Support for this podcast is generously provided by the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and the Society of Winterthur Fellows. It is hosted on WhatIsConservation.com. 

• The value of caring

  https://whatisconservation.com/the-ethics-of-caring-podcast/#ethics-5Wednesday, Nov 30, 2022

  In this episode you'll hear highlights from some of the conversations we'll feature throughout the season, learning more about the motivation to create the podcast and the central themes including: what it means to center compassion and relationships in our practice, how to devalue competition and instead promote collaboration, pathways for sustainably cultivating community, and what it means to approach collection care work from a place of holism.  Please follow along with our social media account @theethicsofcaringpod and WhatIsConservation.com This podcast is generously supported by funds provided by the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and the Society of Winterthur Fellows.

• Season one trailer

  https://whatisconservation.com/the-ethics-of-caring-podcast/#ethics-6Sunday, Nov 06, 2022

  The Ethics of Caring is a new podcast that explores ethical decision making in the context of heritage labor. The creator work in museums, archives, private businesses, and academia. They are conservators and preservationists, community organizers, and educators who acknowledge their biases, preferences, and values openly. By interviewing fellow laborers in various fields within the heritage sector, they gather information and perspectives on what it means to care professionally, how to intentionally embed values into their decisions, and how to cultivate community sustainably. Since the hosts are actively having conversations, their perspectives are actively expanding. 

  The first season is intended as a pilot project to determine format and understand listenership and the creators feel emboldened by the freedom this open-ended format affords them. It is generously hosted on WhatIsConservation.com and funded by grants awarded through the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and the Society of Winterthur Fellows.