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The ecology of sublimity: educational tensions between existence and the ungraspable.

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Title: The ecology of sublimity: educational tensions between existence and the ungraspable.
Authors: Affifi, Ramsey1 (AUTHOR) Ramsey.affifi@ed.ac.uk
Source: Environmental Education Research. Sep2025, Vol. 31 Issue 9, p1876-1895. 20p.
Subject Terms: *Environmental education, *Environmental degradation, *Scientific knowledge, *Teaching methods, Ecosystem dynamics, Self-consciousness (Awareness), Humility
Abstract: Sublime experiences are complex, poorly understood and articulated, but central to environmental education. They are also enabled, modified and threatened by scientific knowledge, ideas and practices, and in ways relevant for environmental education during the ecological crisis. A sublime experience is a felt encounter with something so vast that it cannot be fully encountered, such as endless mountains or the Milky Way, but also the multitude of planetary species - and their rate of decimation. Sublime experiences have many contingent aspects, brought about through relationships both within the experience itself and between it and its developing context. They can lead to multifaceted insights and emotions, such as generating humility and awe, but also fear, insecurity, and variously an increased or reduced sense of agency. Rather than having a specific effect leading to particular educational implications as it is sometimes treated, sublimity is better understood as a dynamic ecology of possibilities. Working educationally with sublimity's promises and dangers is facilitated by familiarising with dynamic interplays that co-constitute its ecology in different contexts. After mapping some of this, I focus on the core educational issue of how the self's existence can be deflated and/or re-instated through encountering sublimity, and the educational craft needed to engage with this educational tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Environmental Education Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: The ecology of sublimity: educational tensions between existence and the ungraspable.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Environmental+Education+Research%22">Environmental Education Research</searchLink>. Sep2025, Vol. 31 Issue 9, p1876-1895. 20p.
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  Data: Sublime experiences are complex, poorly understood and articulated, but central to environmental education. They are also enabled, modified and threatened by scientific knowledge, ideas and practices, and in ways relevant for environmental education during the ecological crisis. A sublime experience is a felt encounter with something so vast that it cannot be fully encountered, such as endless mountains or the Milky Way, but also the multitude of planetary species - and their rate of decimation. Sublime experiences have many contingent aspects, brought about through relationships both within the experience itself and between it and its developing context. They can lead to multifaceted insights and emotions, such as generating humility and awe, but also fear, insecurity, and variously an increased or reduced sense of agency. Rather than having a specific effect leading to particular educational implications as it is sometimes treated, sublimity is better understood as a dynamic ecology of possibilities. Working educationally with sublimity's promises and dangers is facilitated by familiarising with dynamic interplays that co-constitute its ecology in different contexts. After mapping some of this, I focus on the core educational issue of how the self's existence can be deflated and/or re-instated through encountering sublimity, and the educational craft needed to engage with this educational tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Environmental Education Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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              Text: Sep2025
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