Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson

2018 Lunchtime Lectures theme -

Nature and the American Mind

 

February 2018 Lunchtime Lecture -

Pastoral Nature: Agrarianism and Rural America

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson famously asserted that, “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, & they are tied to their country & wedded to its liberty & interests by the most lasting bands,” and he wanted to see America transformed into a democratic pastoral arcadia of farms and ranches. This pastoral nature is the competing concept of American nature focused on farmland and ranchland in contrast to wilderness. Moreover, as American cities grew, rural life and nature in the countryside were seen as a cure for over-urbanized Americans who needed a weekend in the country to recover from the stress of city life. Today, the American small family farm is still an idealized place of encounter and engagement with rural nature, best championed by Wendell Berry, who, like Jefferson, sees small farms as a cure for social problems and modern society’s mismanagement of nature. Thus, there is great cultural tension and a historic divide in the geography of the American mind between wilderness and pastoral nature. Join us as we explore the history of this idea of pastoral nature and its role in shaping contemporary agrarianism in America.

Presented four times in February:

Feb 14 Wednesday NOON to 1pm at PARD Senior Activity Center
Lamar+29^th St at 2874 Shoal Crest Ave, South Room
 

Feb 15 Thursday NOON to 1pm at One Texas Center

505 Barton Springs Road + South First Street, Room 325

Feb 20 Tuesday NOON to 1pm at the Center for Environmental Research – Hornsby Bend - 2210 South FM 973

Feb 28 Wednesday NOON to 1pm at University of Texas

Norman Hackerman Building (NHB). 100 E 24th St, Austin TX, 78712 Room 1.720