From June 20 to July 15, 2016, Arizona State University will offer the four-week Summer Institute “Extending the Land Ethic,” to be held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. The institute will accept up to 25 professors, graduate students, nonprofit administrators, public officials, and others who teach or research humanities disciplines that examine the relationship between humans and nature, such as environmental ethics, ecofeminism, environmental history, green religion, and ecocriticism. The connection between ecologist Aldo Leopold’s “Land Ethic” and contemporary notions of sustainability is the institute’s central organizing principle.
Faculty for the four-week session include MacArthur Prize recipient Gary Paul Nabhan; Curt Meine, Leopold’s primary biographer; famed Native American writer Linda Hogan; and noted climate philosopher Dale Jamieson. Guest speakers and field trips to sites that raise questions about sustainable land and cultural practices round out the institute.
Successful applicants are asked to work on a project that incorporates the institute’s research, such as a publication, new college course, or website. Each participant will receive a $3,300 stipend to cover travel, lodging, meals, books, and related institute expenses. Applications will only be accepted online; more information about the Summer Institute and the application process can be found at: https://humanities-sustainability.asu.edu/. The application deadline is March 1, 2016, with notification on March 31, 2016.
“Extending the Land Ethic” is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. NEH Summer Institute partners include the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, Institute for Humanities Research and the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, as well as the College of Arts and Letters at Northern Arizona University. For more information contact Institute directors Joan McGregor joan.mcgregor@asu.edu or Dan Shilling dan.shilling@asu.edu