“How can we reciprocate the gifts of the Earth?”
-- Robin Kimmerer, Returning the Gift
"Etymologically the word “ghost” is a verbal trace of gast (guest). Ghosts mark an uncanny or unwelcome intrusion, a trespass.
Am I an unwanted intruder here: a guest, or a ghost?"
-- Anne McClintock, Ghost Forest
In the spirit of exploring these questions at the level of the elements, you will set out on a ‘gathering’ with the bifocal goal of returning with a gift to offer our class community and imagining new ways of living reciprocally (as "guests") of the elements.
Schedule
(A) Week 6 we don’t meet as a class so that you can actively set out on a “gathering" having in mind the readings from this week.
Written (&/or) Creative Work
After embarking on your Gathering, you will prepare a “Gift,” which might take the form of a five-page reflection, a short story, a three-minute musical composition or performance, a blog entry or op-ed, a long poem, or a locally-focused “white paper” [what’s that?]. However your gift takes shape, it should serve to inspire conversation among the cross-disciplinary community of the class.
INSPIRATIONS/INVITATIONS
Walk in Amethyst Brook Conservation Area (Pelham)
Walk in Harvard Forest [link] (35 minutes by car from Amherst)
Walk at Quabbin Reservoir (Trailhead # 35)
Walk on Emily Dickinson Trail
Walk or ride along Norwottuck Rail Trail
Visit to (park closer to Amherst and/or more accessible)
Visit one of the trails of the Amherst College Wildlife Sanctuary [link → check out the sound recordings]
Visit the Arnold Arboretum in Boston [link]
Visit the Hitchcock Center at Hampshire [link]
Visit online exhibition of Siobhán McDonald https://www.siobhanmcdonald.com/
Due: Gathering (10%) Monday, October 13, 5pm - upload your work (with your name in the file name) to this Google Drive Folder "Gathering Upload Folder" [link]