Natures 2014 Plenary Speaker
Dr. Cheryll Glotfelty (University of Nevada, Reno) was the distinguished Plenary speaker for Natures 2014. Glotfelty rocked the academic world with her dissertation (Cornell University, 1990) and her many subsequent publications, which have all been pivotal to the emergence of ecocriticism as a recognized field of scholarship over the past 20 years. Dr. Glotfelty generously gave of her time and knowledge throughout the Natures conference, and we are so honored she could spend the time with us.
PLENARY SESSION 1: SCHOLARLY ADDRESS "The Biosphere and the Bioregion: the Post-Environmental Vision of Peter Berg."
PLENARY SESSION II: SEMINAR ON ACADEMIC LIFE Dr. Cheryl Glotfelty -- "Finding a Work-Life Balance in Academia"
"What then is ecocriticism? Simply put, ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment. Just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its readings of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth-centered approach to literary studies."— Cheryll Glotlfelty, The Ecocriticism Reader, 1996
The Natures Conference
The Natures conference was established in 2009 out of a growing awareness that environmental studies was an arena in which various disciplines could find common ground. While papers delivered at the conference cover a wide variety of topics, including but not limited to environmental ones, that original value for interdisciplinary representation persists. Natures provides young and seasoned scholars the opportunity to share their work from across the broad spectrum of the humanities, explore the variety of critical identities, and participate in the growing field of ecocriticism.