Plants and Animals in the Field, Oracles on the Page
Members of the Black Earth Institute
Monday, 18 Feb 2008 at 2:15 pm – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union
Members of the Black Earth Institute will discuss scientific work and observation of animals in the field. They will then examine the transformation of those animal images into both stereotype and oracular wisdom on the literary page. Their remarks will include the observation of grapes, pumpkins wolves, eagles and other creatures that have become important symbols in Native American stories, fairy tales, and Celtic and African mythology. The Black Earth Institute is a progressive think-tank dedicated to re-forging the links between art and spirit, earth and society. Participants include Cristina Eisenberg, Deborah Holton, Patricia Monaghan, and Mary Swander. Part of the 4th Annual Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination.This lecture was made possible in part by the generosity of F. Wendell Miller, who left his entire estate jointly to Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. Mr. Miller, who died in 1995 at age 97, was born in Altoona, Illinois, grew up in Rockwell City, graduated from Grinnell College and Harvard Law School and practiced law in Des Moines and Chicago before returning to Rockwell City to manage his family's farm holdings and to practice law. His will helped to establish the F. Wendell Miller Trust, the annual earnings on which, in part, helped to support this activity.
Cosponsored By:
- Bioethics Program
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
- Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology
- English
- Environmental Studies Program
- Geological & Atmospheric Sciences
- Greenlee School of Journalism
- LAS Miller Lecture Fund
- Landscape Architecture
- Natural Resource Ecology Management
- Philosophy and Religious Studies
- Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture
- Writers' Bloc
- Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)
Stay for the entire event, including the brief question-and-answer session that follows the formal presentation. Most events run 75 minutes.
Sign-ins are after the event concludes. For lectures in the Memorial Union, go to the information desk in the Main Lounge. In other academic buildings, look for signage outside the auditorium.
Lecture Etiquette
- Stay for the entire lecture and the brief audience Q&A. If a student needs to leave early, he or she should sit near the back and exit discreetly.
- Do not bring food or uncovered drinks into the lecture.
- Check with Lectures staff before taking photographs or recording any portion of the event. There are often restrictions. Cell phones, tablets and laptops may be used to take notes or for class assignments.
- Keep questions or comments brief and concise to allow as many as possible.