MANGROVES

Rory Hallowell '24

On Wednesday the 18th of January, my Geology class from Colby College in Waterville, Maine embarked on an expedition to Trunk Island, Bermuda, for the purposes of planting Mangrove propagules. After some hard work, the class planted around 170 propagules. Inspiration for the expedition not only related to the increasingly dire concern for wildlife in Bermuda, but also, as a way to give back to Bermuda for the many gifts and lessons the islands had bestowed to previous classes, of which Professor Bruce Rueger of the college has done since 1999. Funny enough, my older brother, Pen '21, visited Trunk Island 3 years earlier with professor Rueger, planting with his class, 20-30 native Bermuda Cedar Trees, which have since grown tremendously. It was wonderful to see the progress!

The Bermuda Zoological Society organized the day and supplied much of the equipment. We stayed at BIOS, The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, for the 10 day adventure on Bermuda. To put it plainly, we got dirty in paradise and we liked it. Better yet, for our efforts on the island, US consul General to Bermuda, Karen Grissette, awarded the class, as well as Trunk Island staff, a US consulate in Bermuda Challenge coin, which she noted was in relation to the “great honor we bestowed” on our country. A liberal arts education is an exploration itself, one that brought me to learn about the geology and natural flora and fauna of Bermuda.

The inspiration behind our photo collage, titled "Patriarchal Earth," came from Hanya Yanagihara's The People in the Trees. A novel about the imposition of the Western world on a remote Micronesian island, we could not help but see the parallels between how the main character, Norton Perina, treated the natural world and the women in his life. Norton’s regard for these two groups went only so far as their appeal or benefit to him.

We wanted to dig deeper and explore the consequences that our hetero-patriarchal society has on the relationship between the three groups that Yanagihara presents in her novel–the patriarchy and the men that it produces, the women that it suppresses, and the nature that it exploits.

Anya Babb-Brott '25

Anne Johnson '25

To celebrate the end of the fall semester, our Student Advisory Board held their annual wreath-decorating workshop on December 3. The program was lively and popular, with students from across campus joining in on the fun. Hot cocoa, warm cider and a yummy selection of cookies were served and enjoyed by all! We extend a big thank you to Josh Steele of The Robin's Nest for leading everyone through this cheerful event!

Delve into the Environmental Humanities with the English with Literature and the Environment Concentration!

For those English majors with a passion for the environmental humanities, we would like to promote the major concentration, English with Literature and the Environment (ENLE). English majors at Colby have the opportunity to focus their research through the lens of the environmental humanities (EH) Colby is one of only a handful of colleges in the US to offer an environmental literature concentration, so being a part of this program is truly a unique opportunity. To learn more, visit the EH website at https://cah.colby.edu/initiatives/environmental-humanities/

Want to submit to FAUNA?

Email your environmentally-themed art and writing to next year ' s EH Student Advisory Board Chair Rory Hallowell at rhhall24@colby.edu and you could be published in our next edition. No writing submissions over four pages please. To learn more about our submission guidelines, and read previous editions, please go to the CAH website, and visit the FAUNA webpage under the Student Experience tab.

Want to join the EH Student Advisory Board?

Go to the Colby CAH website and click on Student Advisory Board under the Student Experience tab. Fill out the application there, and email it to SAB Chair Rory Hallowell.

Another great way to get involved in the Environmental Humanities at Colby is to take one of our fantastic EH classes See the list of upcoming EH classes on the next page

To learn more about the Center for the Arts and Humanities, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @colbycah, or visit our website at cah.colby.edu.

Fall 2023

AM128: Land, Sovereignty, and Cultural Identity, Michelle

AY256 Land, Food, Culture, and Power, Mills

BI494 Environmental Science Research Experiance, Becknell

EC343 Environment and Development, Meredith

EN283: Environmental Humanities: Stories of Crisis and Resilience, Taff

ES233: Environmental Policy, Nyhus

ES364 Climate Change, Justice, and Health, Carlson

ES401 Environmental Studies Colloquium, Becknell

PL328: Radical Ecologies, Peterson

RE218: Global South Asia: Literature, Art, Environment, Singh

SP297: Deep Ecology in Human Imagination, Millones

WD115I: First-Year Writing: Landscape and Place, Megan

Jan Plan

EN237: Environmental Writing in the Himalayas: Practicing the Arts of Unmastery, Braunstein

BI118: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, Marshall

Spring 2024

AY221 Of Beasts, Pets, and Wildlife: What Animals Mean to Humans, Menair

AY356 Traveling Cultures: The Anthropology of Tourism, Mills

EA120 Nature in East Asian Literature and Culture, Besio

EC231 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Meredith

EN355 Staging Pirates and Captives in Early Modern Romance, Taff

EN357 Literature and Environment, Taff

ES118 Environment and Society, Becknell

ES243 Environmental Ethics, Peterson

ES366 Pollution and Human Health, Carlson

WD115I: First-Year Writing: Landscape and Place, Megan