Tao Leigh Goffe: Dark Laboratory

Critically acclaimed writer and theorist Tao Leigh Goffe joins us to discuss her book, Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis. In this sweeping investigation into the histories of colonialism, racism, and environmental exploitation, Goffe reveals the Caribbean as a crucial site where their tangled roots become legible. This program is presented in dialogue with Tavares Strachan: The Day Tomorrow Began—an immersive exhibition that, like Dark Laboratory, explores the linkages and pathways connecting the Caribbean with global history, culture, and politics. A book signing will follow the discussion. This program is free with registration. Registration does not include admission to The Day Tomorrow Began. Register About Tao Leigh Goffe Tao Leigh Goffe is a critically acclaimed writer, theorist, interdisciplinary artist, and academic who specializes in colonial histories of race, geology, climate, and media technologies. She is the author of Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis (Doubleday, 2025), which Publishers Weekly called a “scintillating study” that “bursts with keen insights and connections” in a starred review. Dr. Goffe is the founder of the Dark Laboratory, an engine for the study of race, technology, and ecology through digital storytelling. She is also the Executive Director of the Afro-Asia Group, an organization that centers the intersections of African and Asian diasporas, futurity, and radical coalition toward sovereignty. Previously a fellow at the Harvard University Kennedy School for 2024-2025, she is currently in residence as a Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow for 2026-2027. She lives and works in Manhattan, where she is an Associate Professor at Hunter College, CUNY and CUNY Graduate Center in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Tao Leigh Goffe photo by Courtney Sofiah Yates