Summer 2007 Field Institute. This ten-day field experience focused on the culture and politics of grassland restoration in Arizona, New Mexico, and Sonora. Scholars from the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of New Mexico, and New Mexico State University organized and participated in the event.
Beginning in southwestern New Mexico, we traveled to a series of restoration landscapes. At each stop, we listened, observed, and discussed the meanings Borderlands residents bring to ecological health. I combined this inquiry with a set of readings about landscape as an analytical tool, turning the experience into a graduate credit course.
Summer 2009 Field Institute. Funded in large part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this month-long institute entitled “Nature and History at the Nation’s Edge: A Field Institute in Environmental and Borderlands History,” brought two dozen scholars from across the country to learn about Borderlands environments, creating a foundation for further scholarship and teaching.
This institute built upon the earlier success of the 2007 pilot program and was organized by Katherine Morrissey, Sam Truett, Paul Hirt, and Marsha Weisiger. I served as a graduate assistant, both participating in discussions and contributing to the intellectual and organizational background work of this project.
Summer 2011 Field Institute. “Tucson and the Santa Cruz River: Political Ecology and Environmental History,” an undergraduate course, will explore the relationship between the city and its river, using field experiences and interdisciplinary approaches.
This three-week intensive course will draw from riparian ecology, urban history, ethnic studies, and public health, while using the question “What does it mean to be a citizen of the river?” as its guide.