The Raven
Gertrude Stein
astronomical clock
Rachel Carson

Tag: Environment

September 20, 2024

Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.

Journeys have been on my mind. Possibly because I’ve been close-reading Moby Dick for some time now, I am thinking of seas, and adventures, ships and boats, of long walking, of trial and tribulation. So, as part of my summer fun reading, I picked up a book that has been on my shelf for far too long: The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko.

 » Read more about: Journey of the Emerald Mile  »

January 14, 2022

Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.

Though I do not excel at problem solving, I always like to know that someone has a plan. I like the security of emergency plans in hotels, for example. In the outdoors, I have first-aid supplies for all sorts of possibilities. And I never leave home without water and gear to change a tire. So while recently reading Bill Gates’s book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and The Breakthroughs We Need,

 » Read more about: Book Review: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster  »

Thanks to Dylan O’Hara, a 2020 HMU Fellow in Ideas, for today’s post.

May 22, 2020

Some of the research that has inspired me the most over the last two years or so has been Urban History. The academic crossover between History, Anthropology, Political Science, Cartography, Geography, and Environmental Studies suddenly opened up a whole new world of exploration for me. I was excited to find it was creative, expressive, expansive,

 » Read more about: A Study in Urban History  »

October 18, 2019

Thanks to Jennifer Taylor, a 2019 Harrison Middleton University Fellow in Ideas recipient, for today’s post.

Harari, Yuval N. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. [Toronto]: Signal, 2014.

I have often heard that if we choose not to learn from the mistakes of history, we will inevitably end up repeating them. Though it is undeniably very practical advice to be aware of the perils and pitfalls to which we as human beings are susceptible,

 » Read more about: BOOK REVIEW: Sapiens  »

November 3, 2017

Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.

In celebration of fall color, today’s blog offers excerpts from both Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold. Both passages celebrate life, love and the mystery of nature. They also ask deep questions about the human place within nature. Changing colors and seasons present the perfect time for reflection. Enjoy – and happy fall!

Photo credit: Alissa Simon

Photo credit: Alissa Simon

From Under the Sea-Wind by Rachel Carson,

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March 31, 2017

Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.

“The word saguaro originated in Ópata, a language spoken by peoples of the Sonoran Desert region of Mexico. It came into English by way of the Spanish spoken by the Mexican settlers of the American West. The very saguaros we see today may well have been around when the word was first noted, some 150 years ago –

 » Read more about: A Saguaro Stands Tall  »

December 2, 2016

Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.

Does a single word contain a saturation point? In other words, at some point, does a word begin to lose meaning simply because it has accumulated too many definitions? Translation can be a tricky business when we understand that a simple word can carry the weight of a contemporaneous discussion. For example, today’s blog leads us through a few examples of the evolution of the word “green”.

 » Read more about: Saturating Green  »

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