Tag: Nature
We’re excited that you’ve joined the conversation! At HMU, we want to continue the great authors’ conversations in a contemporary context, and this blog will help us do that. We look back to Aristotle and the early philosophers who used reason and discourse to gain wisdom and now we endeavor to do the same every day.
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April 17, 2026
Thanks to Natalie Sum Yue Chung, HMU 2026 Fellow in Ideas; PhD Candidate in Climate Policy, Princeton University
Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854) by Henry David Thoreau: review by Natalie Sum Yue Chung
There are books we read, and then there are books that read us—that somehow knew us before we knew ourselves. Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden; or, Life in the Woods” (1854) has been such a companion throughout my life.
» Read more about: Finding Walden: A Personal Reflection on Thoreau’s Masterwork »
September 16, 2022
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Recently, I attended a pop-up conference hosted by Classical Pursuits. Moderator Melanie Blake walked us through a short story by Guy de Maupassant. I jumped on this opportunity since I had never read any of his short stories. And discussion is an excellent way to be introduced to new stories! Being in such a large group limited the number of comments from each participants,
August 26, 2022
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
From Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:
“I wonder whether what I see and seem to understand about nature is merely one of the accidents of freedom, repeated by chance before my eyes, or whether it has any counterpart in the worlds beyond Tinker Creek. I find in quantum mechanics a world symbolically similar to my world at the creek.
August 12, 2022
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
At HMU, we place a great deal of importance on asking vital questions. I continuously work towards finding helpful, insightful, deep questions which enables me to better understand an author’s perspective. Thinking in this way opens pathways to asking insightful questions of our world. Two authors help to elaborate this notion: Annie Dillard in her investigation of nature;
» Read more about: Annie Dillard and the Science of Can and Can’t »
December 3, 2021
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Listen to “Misty Mountain Hop” by Led Zeppelin while reading today’s blog.
In The Meaning of Travel by Emily Thomas, she explains that mountains used to be feared, vile, despicable places. In literature, they were described with disdain and hatred. She quotes John Donne’s “Anatomy of the world” in which he calls mountains “warts and pock-holes” as one example (113).
June 25, 2021
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
It is easy to assume that the way things are now is the way that they have always been. For example, visiting a museum is commonplace now, however, museums have not always been around. In fact, “curiosity closets” predate museums and offer a glimpse into human history and curiosity, wealth and prestige, and naturalists and hobbyists.
March 26, 2021
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Part of my attraction to the Brontës is the excruciating and raw emotions. It is as if they speak truth when others would rather avoid the issues. It is a form of witness to their own reality, to the harshness and beauty of their time. Obviously, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights revolve around ideas of love,
February 5, 2021
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
“Joy, in part, is the justice we give ourselves.” – Dr. Drew Lanham
This post is about the love of being. Also, the love of birds. After listening to Krista Tippett (of OnBeing) interview Dr. Drew Lanham, ornithologist, writer, and Wildlife Biologist at Clemson University, I felt the first few positive strings of hope arrive.
January 29, 2021
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
“It is not easy to realize the serene joy of all the earth, when she commences to shine unobstructedly, unless you have often been abroad alone in moonlight nights.” – Henry David Thoreau
Discussions this month focused on Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Night and Moonlight” combined with Aldo Leopold’s “Land Ethic.” Both pieces propose a journey into nature,
April 24, 2020
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
“If you observe the hot-foot sun and the moon’s phases,/ To-morrow will never cheat you” – Virgil, Georgics, Book I
In celebration of poetry this month, our April Quarterly Discussion focused on Virgil’s Georgics, Book I, and a selection of poems from Wendell Berry’s Farming: A Handbook. Not only do these readings align with National Poetry Month,