Conversations at the Center

Tangier Island in Virginia is a community unique in the American landscape. Settled during the American Revolution, it has lost two-thirds of its land since 1850, much of that in the last 40 years as its shoreline retreats by fifteen feet a year. This storied place will likely be the first U.S. town to succumb to the effects of climate change. In his book, Chesapeake Requiem, acclaimed journalist Earl Swift takes an intimate look at Tangier Island’s past, present, and tenuous future. As experts predict that its residents will be forced to abandon their homes within twenty-five years, Swift chronicles how the conservative and deeply religious people of Tangier ponder the end times. At this panel discussion, Steven Beschloss, head of ASU’s Narrative Storytelling Initiative and professor of practice in the Cronkite School, will interview Swift about his reporting for Chesapeake Requiem. They will then be joined on stage by religious studies professor Tracy Fessenden for a deep dive into the apocalyptic thinking of Tangier Island’s residents, and how their views reflect deeper trends in American responses towards climate change.