Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Threads Of Connection: An Offering To Re-Tangle Humanity And Nature With The Patterns Of Our World, Emily Shelton

Graduate Theses

In our world there are patterns of self-similarity that serve as evidence of the interconnectedness between humankind and the rest of the natural world. They are reflected in our bodies, behaviors, and environments, both natural and manmade, and can be found throughout systems at every scale, micro through macro. These organic, linear motifs branch into smaller iterations that seem to shape our existence on this planet as we gravitate towards experiences that echo these patterns. During everyday acts like shopping in a grocery store or a crowd at a concert, we unconsciously participate in self-similar collective movements as we navigate …

Religious Naturalisms, Carol W. White

Other Faculty Research and Publications

This article focuses on recent developments in religious naturalism in the twenty-first century, building on Jerome Stone’s 2008 study of its resurgence in the mid-twentieth century. I introduce religious naturalism as a synthesis of naturalistic ideas that often depart from traditional forms of religious thinking, defining it as a capacious, ecological religious worldview grounded in the observational conviction that nature is ultimate. I also describe different models of religious naturalism, focusing on the key ideas found in the influential publications of contemporary religious naturalists (e.g., Ursula Goodenough, Donald Crosby, Loyal Rue, among others). While acknowledging specific points of emphasis, I …

Painting Ecological Change In Pacific Northwest Bird Populations, Rachel Rothberg

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The following four oil paintings are part of an ongoing series that visually explores bird populations and behavior in Northwest Washington, particularly in Bellingham and Whatcom County. I combine biological, detailed illustration with painterly practices to communicate fragile ecological balances to my audience through a medium seen less frequently in the field of conservation. My work examines the tension between life and death in the natural world to provoke conversations about environmental issues and to encourage compassion for local scenery. The work illuminates how birds, humans, and the ecosystems we inhabit are intertwined, inspiring a sense of wonder for our …

Mourning Nature: Hope At The Heart Of Ecological Loss And Grief By Ashlee Cunsolo And Karen Landman, Jenna Gersie

The Goose

Review of Ashlee Cunsolo and Karen Landman's Mourning Nature: Hope at the Heart of Ecological Loss and Grief.

Modified Landscapes, Esther Nooner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modified Landscapes is a body of work that reflects serious thought regarding Nature and its future. My personal experience and beliefs are at the core of why I believe this subject to be of great importance and why it will sustain many artists’ investigations for the time to come. The influences that informed this process are explored through experiences I had traveling, reading and exploring the photograph as a material object. The manipulation of the photograph is meant to question the beautiful, untouched scene and break the Romantic gaze that is historically tied to representations of Nature and insist upon …

From The Inside Out, And Through., Dominique Ovalle

The STEAM Journal

These photographs describe “Science” born of consumerism, hijacked by me, economically disenfranchised, or rather—temporarily embarrassed, artist. I was putzing around Malibu—my old college stomping ground, looking for free food; maybe a sample of some gourmet $5 chocolate, and all I got were these photographs.

The Role Of Nature In John Muir's Conception Of The Good Life, Randy R. Larsen

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Aristotle says our best moral guidance comes from considering the lives of exemplary individuals. I explore John Muir, as an exemplar of environmental virtue, and consider the role of Nature in his conception of the good life. I argue his conception consists of a web of virtue including various goods, values, and virtues. I suggest three virtues are cardinal: attentiveness, gratitude and reverence. I explore how Muir cultivated these virtues in Nature.

I argue Muir sought freedom from a popular conception of the good life, grounded in the gilded age values of money and materialism, and was sensitive to the …