Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2011
Aldo Leopold's essay 'Thinking Like a Mountain' was more than a parable about a redemptive person... more Aldo Leopold's essay 'Thinking Like a Mountain' was more than a parable about a redemptive personal moment; it was the fruition of a larger effort on Leopold's part to effectively communicate the fundamentals of a 'land ethic'. I explore striking narrative antecedents to Leopold's 'green fire' moment, including writings by Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Thompson Seton, and articulate why wolves provided the quintessential totem animal for communicating a larger ecological 'drama'. Both these literary antecedents and the essay's ongoing-sometimes surprising-impacts are worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2011
is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, a naturalist ... more is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, a naturalist informed deeply by his ecological fieldwork, and as an active citizen and conservationist committed to bringing private and public land management into concord. While many of his contemporaries have faded into obscurity, Leopold's work continues to inspire scholars and conservation practitioners to think of social and ecological systems as necessarily integrated. The authors in this special issue probe why this is so by focusing on the ethical, religious, and spiritual roots and branches of Leopold's environmental philosophy and his understandings of land health. I suggest that Leopold's work continues to endure, and receive growing scholarly and popular attention, because he subtly traversed the realm of metaphysics in his writing, creating a challenging dialogue between the sciences and the humanities.
Fire on the Mountain: Ecology Gets its Narrative Totem
Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive person... more Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive personal moment; it was the fruition of a larger effort on Leopold’s part to effectively communicate the fundamentals of a ‘land ethic’. I explore striking narrative antecedents to Leopold’s ‘green fire’ moment, including writings by Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Thompson Seton, and articulate why wolves provided the quintessential totem animal for communicating a larger ecological ‘drama’. Both these literary antecedents and the essay’s ongoing—sometimes surprising—impacts are worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.
Provides an overview of the intersection between food and ethics, highlighting "Food, Oil, Geneti... more Provides an overview of the intersection between food and ethics, highlighting "Food, Oil, Genetics," "The Growth of Organics," "Vegetarianism and Veganism," "Place-based Eating," "Food in the City," and "The Social Practice of Agriculture."
The role that religious understandings should play in the science classrooms of public schools ha... more The role that religious understandings should play in the science classrooms of public schools has been particularly contentious in some parts of the United States, and has thus become a target for the recently-invented Flying Spaghetti Monster. Though many monsters may inspire terror or serve as scapegoats for internal psychological or external cultural conflicts, monsters can also inspire laughter. This laughter may be no less subversive than terror, calling attention to and mischievously ridiculing mythic narratives, beliefs, and widespread cultural faiths that are held sacred. By inserting a faceless ball of pasta into a creation narrative considered sacred by many Americans, through subtle sexuality, and patent absurdity, the Flying Spaghetti Monster aims to confound those who believe metaphysical explanations should be actively taught in science classrooms alongside evolutionary theory, and it offers a potent example of how monstrous humor can be used as a tool of playful subversion.
During the latter decades of the twentieth century, public perceptions of wolves in the United St... more During the latter decades of the twentieth century, public perceptions of wolves in the United States shifted dramatically, making wolves the most recognizable wilderness icon in
North America. This iconic status has not been without controversy. In the southwestern United States, the battles over who has the right to decide if, when, and where Mexican gray wolves (the most endangered subspecies of gray wolves) can be reintroduced have been especially contentious, particularly in terms of what constitutes appropriate land use and management. I investigated the iconographic significance of wolves, asked why wolves are a species of religious
importance, and attended to the ways in which wolf reintroductions highlight deeply conflicting systems of value.
The scholarly investigation of the convergences between Hindu traditions and the natural world is... more The scholarly investigation of the convergences between Hindu traditions and the natural world is a relatively recent endeavor, having arisen in the wake of similar projects seeking to identify the intersections between religion, culture, and nature. Partly a response to present and looming environmental threats, this effort has resulted in a wide range of material, from a more general "environmental assessment" of the tradition(s) in question to specific inquiries about the social, economic, and demographic factors that impinge upon contemporary Indians' understandings of nature. This literature review provides an overview of these materials and should offer readers a sense of the topics that have received the most attention from scholars to date.
Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive person... more Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive personal moment; it was the fruition of a larger effort on Leopold’s part to effectively communicate the fundamentals of a ‘land ethic’. I explore striking narrative antecedents to Leopold’s ‘green fire’ moment, including writings by Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Thompson Seton, and articulate why wolves provided the quintessential totem animal for communicating a larger ecological ‘drama’. Both these literary antecedents and the essay’s ongoing—sometimes surprising—impacts are
worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.
Aldo Leopold is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, ... more Aldo Leopold is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, a naturalist informed deeply by his ecological fieldwork, and as an active citizen and conservationist committed to bringing private and public land management into concord. While many of his contemporaries have faded into obscurity, Leopold's work continues to inspire scholars and conservation practitioners to think of social and ecological systems as necessarily integrated. The authors in this special issue probe why this is so by focusing on the ethical, religious, and spiritual roots and branches of Leopold's environmental philosophy and his understandings of land health. I suggest that Leopold's work continues to endure, and receive growing scholarly and popular attention, because he subtly traversed the realm of metaphysics in his writing, creating a challenging dialogue between the sciences and the humanities.
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2011
Aldo Leopold's essay 'Thinking Like a Mountain' was more than a parable about a redemptive person... more Aldo Leopold's essay 'Thinking Like a Mountain' was more than a parable about a redemptive personal moment; it was the fruition of a larger effort on Leopold's part to effectively communicate the fundamentals of a 'land ethic'. I explore striking narrative antecedents to Leopold's 'green fire' moment, including writings by Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Thompson Seton, and articulate why wolves provided the quintessential totem animal for communicating a larger ecological 'drama'. Both these literary antecedents and the essay's ongoing-sometimes surprising-impacts are worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2011
is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, a naturalist ... more is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, a naturalist informed deeply by his ecological fieldwork, and as an active citizen and conservationist committed to bringing private and public land management into concord. While many of his contemporaries have faded into obscurity, Leopold's work continues to inspire scholars and conservation practitioners to think of social and ecological systems as necessarily integrated. The authors in this special issue probe why this is so by focusing on the ethical, religious, and spiritual roots and branches of Leopold's environmental philosophy and his understandings of land health. I suggest that Leopold's work continues to endure, and receive growing scholarly and popular attention, because he subtly traversed the realm of metaphysics in his writing, creating a challenging dialogue between the sciences and the humanities.
Fire on the Mountain: Ecology Gets its Narrative Totem
Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive person... more Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive personal moment; it was the fruition of a larger effort on Leopold’s part to effectively communicate the fundamentals of a ‘land ethic’. I explore striking narrative antecedents to Leopold’s ‘green fire’ moment, including writings by Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Thompson Seton, and articulate why wolves provided the quintessential totem animal for communicating a larger ecological ‘drama’. Both these literary antecedents and the essay’s ongoing—sometimes surprising—impacts are worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.
Provides an overview of the intersection between food and ethics, highlighting "Food, Oil, Geneti... more Provides an overview of the intersection between food and ethics, highlighting "Food, Oil, Genetics," "The Growth of Organics," "Vegetarianism and Veganism," "Place-based Eating," "Food in the City," and "The Social Practice of Agriculture."
The role that religious understandings should play in the science classrooms of public schools ha... more The role that religious understandings should play in the science classrooms of public schools has been particularly contentious in some parts of the United States, and has thus become a target for the recently-invented Flying Spaghetti Monster. Though many monsters may inspire terror or serve as scapegoats for internal psychological or external cultural conflicts, monsters can also inspire laughter. This laughter may be no less subversive than terror, calling attention to and mischievously ridiculing mythic narratives, beliefs, and widespread cultural faiths that are held sacred. By inserting a faceless ball of pasta into a creation narrative considered sacred by many Americans, through subtle sexuality, and patent absurdity, the Flying Spaghetti Monster aims to confound those who believe metaphysical explanations should be actively taught in science classrooms alongside evolutionary theory, and it offers a potent example of how monstrous humor can be used as a tool of playful subversion.
During the latter decades of the twentieth century, public perceptions of wolves in the United St... more During the latter decades of the twentieth century, public perceptions of wolves in the United States shifted dramatically, making wolves the most recognizable wilderness icon in
North America. This iconic status has not been without controversy. In the southwestern United States, the battles over who has the right to decide if, when, and where Mexican gray wolves (the most endangered subspecies of gray wolves) can be reintroduced have been especially contentious, particularly in terms of what constitutes appropriate land use and management. I investigated the iconographic significance of wolves, asked why wolves are a species of religious
importance, and attended to the ways in which wolf reintroductions highlight deeply conflicting systems of value.
The scholarly investigation of the convergences between Hindu traditions and the natural world is... more The scholarly investigation of the convergences between Hindu traditions and the natural world is a relatively recent endeavor, having arisen in the wake of similar projects seeking to identify the intersections between religion, culture, and nature. Partly a response to present and looming environmental threats, this effort has resulted in a wide range of material, from a more general "environmental assessment" of the tradition(s) in question to specific inquiries about the social, economic, and demographic factors that impinge upon contemporary Indians' understandings of nature. This literature review provides an overview of these materials and should offer readers a sense of the topics that have received the most attention from scholars to date.
Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive person... more Aldo Leopold’s essay ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’ was more than a parable about a redemptive personal moment; it was the fruition of a larger effort on Leopold’s part to effectively communicate the fundamentals of a ‘land ethic’. I explore striking narrative antecedents to Leopold’s ‘green fire’ moment, including writings by Henry David Thoreau and Ernest Thompson Seton, and articulate why wolves provided the quintessential totem animal for communicating a larger ecological ‘drama’. Both these literary antecedents and the essay’s ongoing—sometimes surprising—impacts are
worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.
Aldo Leopold is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, ... more Aldo Leopold is remembered as a consummate nature writer, a scientist with a philosophical bent, a naturalist informed deeply by his ecological fieldwork, and as an active citizen and conservationist committed to bringing private and public land management into concord. While many of his contemporaries have faded into obscurity, Leopold's work continues to inspire scholars and conservation practitioners to think of social and ecological systems as necessarily integrated. The authors in this special issue probe why this is so by focusing on the ethical, religious, and spiritual roots and branches of Leopold's environmental philosophy and his understandings of land health. I suggest that Leopold's work continues to endure, and receive growing scholarly and popular attention, because he subtly traversed the realm of metaphysics in his writing, creating a challenging dialogue between the sciences and the humanities.
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North America. This iconic status has not been without controversy. In the southwestern United States, the battles over who has the right to decide if, when, and where Mexican gray wolves (the most endangered subspecies of gray wolves) can be reintroduced have been especially contentious, particularly in terms of what constitutes appropriate land use and management. I investigated the iconographic significance of wolves, asked why wolves are a species of religious
importance, and attended to the ways in which wolf reintroductions highlight deeply conflicting systems of value.
worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.
North America. This iconic status has not been without controversy. In the southwestern United States, the battles over who has the right to decide if, when, and where Mexican gray wolves (the most endangered subspecies of gray wolves) can be reintroduced have been especially contentious, particularly in terms of what constitutes appropriate land use and management. I investigated the iconographic significance of wolves, asked why wolves are a species of religious
importance, and attended to the ways in which wolf reintroductions highlight deeply conflicting systems of value.
worth exploring, not just because of the high regard in which the essay itself is held but because Leopold succeeded in navigating a problem that persists in our own time: the gap between scientifically informed understandings of the world and effectively communicating those understandings to the public.