Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Fire Otherwise: Lifeways Enhancing Fire Management In A Changing World, Cynthia Twyford Fowler, Cynthia Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

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Fire Otherwise: Lifeways Enhancing Fire Management In A Changing World, Cynthia Twyford Fowler, Cynthia Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

Fire is a daunting human ecological challenge and a major subject in science and policy debates about global trends in land conversion, climate change, and human health. Persistent environmental orthodoxies reduce complex burning traditions to overly simplistic representations of environmental destruction, degradation, and loss while reinforcing existing social inequities involving smallholders. What would a more inclusive and pluralistic fire ecology look like? How and why might we embrace diverse anthropogenic fire regimes and broader understandings of the ways humans interact with fire? Fire otherwise is the support of proactive local and regional efforts to adapt amidst continually changing social and …

Initiating Research On Igniting Fires In The Blue Ridge Mountains During The Autumn 2016 Conflagration, Cynthia Twyford Fowler, Cynthia Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

An unprecedented moment in the fire ecology of the Blue Ridge Mountains occurred in Autumn 2016 when severe drought, frequent anthropogenic ignitions, and seasonality in disturbed deciduous forests fueled widespread burning. As the wildfires burned, wildland firefighters from around the U.S. temporarily moved into the region to assist local land managers. As wildfire risks increased and air quality decreased, local residents became increasingly interested in fire ecology. The community shifted continuously as wildfires were extinguished, wildland firefighters returned home, and local residents disengaged. In conducting research during the conflagration, obtaining consent from community members varied depending on whether or not …

Totality And Infinity—Nationalism And The Face: An Ethnographic Exploration In The Republic Of Turkey And State Of Israel, Charles Phifer Nicholson Jr.

Student Scholarship

This paper argues that the historical roots and current manifestations of secular and religious nationalism in the Republic of Turkey and the State of Israel are well understood in light of Emmanuel Levinas’ concept of totality. Furthermore, as discovered through ethnographic research collected concerning the lived experiences of ethnic and religious minorities in these nations, it posits that the best response to these all-encompassing, exclusive worldviews is found in the reality of the human face, as conceptualized by Levinas in connection with his notion of infinity.

The foundation and primary source of this project is ethnographic research collected in the …