Bestselling Author and Botanist Inspires Students to Transform Themselves and Their Community
October 9, 2023 — Students filled the McCann Arena last week to hear from Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, the celebrated and award-winning author of 编织香草: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, the Teachings of Plants. Her book was selected as this year’s First-Year Seminar (FYS) 常见的阅读.
A 纽约时报, 华盛顿邮报》, 洛杉矶时报 Bestseller that illuminates a cross-section of impactful topics, 编织香草 将身份的主题编织在一起, 包容, 环境可持续性, 气候变化, 和管理工作, making it applicable to students across many disciplines. The 常见的阅读 is integrated into the first-year experience with all students reading the book before arriving on campus. The 常见的阅读 aims to inspire campus-wide conversations outside of the traditional classroom through lectures, 讨论, 还有课外项目.
“听博士. Kimmerer speak truly allowed me to understand the importance of being proactive and asking myself how I can acknowledge what I have learned from nature,27岁的卡桑德拉·威廉姆斯说, 时尚专业的学生. “We are so lucky to be able to speak directly to the author and understand her stories on a deeper level.”
Students across different First-Year Seminar classes take lessons from the book and apply them to real-world teachings and experiences on and off campus.
Dr. Radka Wildova (far right) demonstrates the use of vines for braiding and weaving to Dr. Richard Feldman's (second from right) students in the FYS Braiding our Relationships with the Natural World last week in Fern Tor Nature Preserve. Photo by Nelson Echeverria/bet亚洲365欢迎投注.
编织香草 consists of nonfiction essays that reflect upon nature through Kimmerer’s perspective as an Indigenous woman, 训练有素的植物学家, 慈爱的母亲, 也是一位敬业的教授. 通过个人故事, 科学的见解, 文化叙事, Kimmerer encourages readers to deepen their connection to the environment.
Bella Wild '24 was inspired to plant the 三姐妹作物 用豆子，玉米和南瓜做成的 bet亚洲365欢迎投注社区花园 读了《bet亚洲365欢迎投注》之后. Photo by Nelson Echeverria/bet亚洲365欢迎投注.
At the event, Kimmerer spoke about her book in a conversation moderated by Dr. 帕特丽夏Tarantello, Lecturer of English and First Year Seminar Director. Kimmerer discussed how students can better their relationship with the earth and make impactful changes for themselves and the world at large.
“You may not realize the power that you have to catalyze change in your own communities, 想想看, 'how could I change the Marist community?’”基默尔说. “We each in our own sp在这里s can do so much to recognize our own power and agency. We can change not only our own thinking but we can contribute to system-wide change.”
Dr. 基默尔在bet亚洲365欢迎投注演讲. Photo by Nelson Echeverria/bet亚洲365欢迎投注.
“With every piece of advice Kimmerer offered, she opened my eyes to all of the impactful experiences I can have in this world,27岁的萨曼莎·马蒂奥利说, 中学学历和历史系学生. “She taught us how we can be the leaders of our own life, especially to benefit planet Earth.”
The event concluded with a standing ovation for the author and an opportunity for students, 工作人员, 教师们也能拿到他们的副本 编织香草 由基默尔签名.
"Kimmerer's book resonated in a special way this year, 课堂内外都有,”医生说。. James Snyder, Dean for Academic Engagement. "The First-Year Seminar program did an amazing job, collaborating with our Center for Teaching Excellence, to foster conversations among faculty about Kimmerer's vision before the start of the semester, this helped them integrate the book into their courses in unique and unexpected ways."
Kimmerer is the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. 作为一名注册会员 Potawatomi国家公民, her work introduces the benefits of traditional ecological knowledge to the scientific community in a way that respects and protects indigenous knowledge. She is known for the role of traditional ecological knowledge in ecological restoration and the ecology of mosses. 了解更多bet亚洲365欢迎投注Kimmerer的工作 在这里.
Members of the Marist community can access 编织香草 through the bet亚洲365欢迎投注库.
