The Institute will be organized chronologically to address Audubon’s early, middle, and late period. Coincidentally, these different periods also correspond to Audubon’s exploration and appropriation of different sections of the North American continent and, for that matter, Europe. Participants will be expected to purchase five books, the Library of America edition of Audubon’s Writings and Drawings, edited by Christoph Irmscher; Richard Rhodes’s Audubon: The Making of an American; Carolyn DeLatte’s Lucy Audubon ; Katherine Govier’s novel Creation; and Danny Heitman’s A Summer of Birds. The estimated total cost for the purchase of these books is $93.00. Each participant will be given a DVD of “Drawn from Nature,” the documentary by Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey, that was released on PBS in the summer of 2007.
Participants should make travel plans that enable them to start work at 9 a.m. on Monday, July 6. The weekday format will include morning lectures and discussions, afternoons free for reading and reflection, and occasional evening programs. (Participants can also sample evening events offered by the Summer Music Festival.) There are two overnight weekend trips, one to the Field Museum in Chicago and one to Henderson, Kentucky. There is one afternoon trip to Goose Pond in Linton, IN. Transportation and lodging for these trips will be provided by the institute. The institute will end with lunch on Friday, July 31.
Participants will be asked to keep an institute journal recording their personal reaction to and critique of the institute readings and discussions. A detailed syllabus is attached. The syllabus is flexible and subject to change. A considerable amount of planning must go into this and sometimes things will have to shift, depending on availability of faculty. |