College of Arts professor Dr. Catherine Bush discussed her concept of “earth aunties” on a recent edition of the Counterpoint podcast from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.  

“What interests me about the role of the aunt is that you don’t choose it necessarily, but you choose how to perform it. It really engages you with caring for others, others who may not be like you, others that you don’t raise but are still a part of your larger community,” she said, explaining how being an aunt can be viewed as a form of action applicable to combatting climate change. 

A professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies and the graduate coordinator of the creative writing MFA program, Bush is an author who studies climate fiction and imaginaries.