Farmscape: Documenting the Changing Rural Environment
A Student Readers Theatre Production
Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008 at 10:45 am – Maintenance Shop, Memorial Union
Iowa State creative writing students document the American farmscape through interviews with people involved in changes in how we grow our food and live our lives in the rural United States. You'll take delight in a sip of Zinfandel at a new winery and savor the taste of organic vegetables on a truck on its way to the local farmer's market. You'll make a stop at a bed and breakfast and Hispanic cultural center and gaze out the window at restored wetlands and prairie. You'll also suit up in protective clothing before entering a hog confinement and you'll watch chickens move quickly down a conveyor belt at an IBP slaughtering plant. You'll experience the David and Goliath story of a family farmer up against the economic forces of the 3,500-acre agribusiness operation next door. In the end, you'll understand that farming completely changed the ecosystem of the prairie. Part of the 4th Annual Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination.
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.