Nature and the American Mind
2018 Speaker Series with Kevin Anderson
Nature and the American Mind
Photo by Lacy Garner, Image of Big Bend National Park 2017
In 1967, the historian Roderick Nash published a foundational book about the American idea of wilderness entitled Wilderness and the American Mind. However, the American Mind contains more concepts of nature than just wilderness, and so, in 2018, we will explore the many aspects of Nature and the American Mind. This is a complex story that threads through our history and shapes beliefs, policies, science, and management practices today.
We will begin the year by exploring four main Concepts of American Nature – 1) wild nature, 2) pastoral nature, 3) urban nature, and 4) the newly emerging concept of resilient nature. Through the summer, we will look at Science and American Nature – how the development of American natural history, biology, ecology, and environmental science has been shaped by these concepts of nature and the unique context of the New World. We will finish 2018 by exploring the history of the Management of American Nature - the early battle between preservationists and conservationists, the past and future of American agriculture, new ecological ideas about cities and urban design, and the future of nature…or its demise.
Monthly Talks at these Locations (Dates below):
SAC - Senior Activity Center-Lamar - 2874 Shoal Crest Ave, South Room at 29th and Lamar
CER - Austin Water Center for Environmental Research – 2210 South FM 973 at Hornsby Bend
OTC - One Texas Center - 505 Barton Springs Road, Room 325 at South First Street
UT - University of Texas Norman Hackerman Building (NHB) at 100 E 24th St
Time | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Free and Open to the Public – bring a lunch and learn
2018 Lecture Schedule
Concepts of American Nature
We will begin the year by exploring four main Concepts of American Nature – 1) wild nature, 2) pastoral nature, 3) urban nature, and 4) the newly emerging concept of resilient nature.
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January Wild Nature: The New World and Wilderness |
February Pastoral Nature: Agrarianism and Rural America |
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March Urban Nature: Perspectives on Nature and the City |
April Resilient Nature: Discordant Harmony and New Ecology |
Science and American Nature
Through the summer, we will look at Science and American Nature – how the development of American natural history, biology, ecology, and environmental science has been shaped by these concepts of nature and the unique context of the New World.
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May American Natural History: Thoreau and New World Nature |
June American Biology: Natives, Immigrants, and Humboldt’s Children |
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July American Ecology: Stability, Integrity, and Leopold’s Legacy |
August American Environmental Science: Carson and the Politics of Nature |
Management of American Nature
We will finish 2018 by exploring the history of the Management of American Nature - the early battle between preservationists and conservationists, the past and future of American agriculture, new ecological ideas about cities and urban design, and the future of nature…or its demise.
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September Saving American Nature: Preservation, Conservation, and the Wild |
October Farming with Nature: Sustainable Agriculture and the American Family Farm |
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November The Ecological City: Sustainability, Environmental Ecology, and Urban Metabolism |
December The End of Nature: Prospective Ecology, Ethics, and the Anthropocene |
Kevin Anderson Ph.D.
Kevin is a geographer and philosopher researching the nature of, and the nature in, urban wastelands. He studied at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania [BA], Durham University, England, Ohio University [MA] where he taught philosophy and symbolic logic. He received his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin with a dissertation entitled: Marginal Nature: Urban Wastelands and the Geography of Nature. His research interests include sewage treatment, soil ecology, and sustainable agriculture, urban ecology and sustainability, riparian ecology, environmental history, philosophy, and literature. He is a co-founder of the Texas Riparian Association and the Upper Tisza Foundation in northeastern Hungary. He runs the Austin Water-Center for Environmental Research which focuses on soil, sewage recycling, and environmental trace contaminants; rivers, riparian ecology, and alluvial aquifers; cities, biodiversity, and avian ecology.
Brought to you by Austin Water Utility, Center for Environmental Research (CER), The University of Texas, Texas A&M University. Nature in the City - Austin is sponsored by the Community Trees Division, and helps to implement the Imagine Austin and Urban Forest Plans.
CER and Hornsby Bend are on Facebook! Visit to see what's happening today! Want more? Yes! Visit the Marginal Nature Blog and Nature in the City - Austin Blog.
Power Points for previous lunchtime lectures.
http://www.austintexas.gov/page/cer-previous-lunchtime-lectures
Austin Nature in the City is sponsored by the Community Trees Division and part of the Development Services family. This program helps to implement the Imagine Austin and Austin's Urban Forest Plans.
Nature in the City is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.