by bill-youngs | Sep 14, 2023 | Fireside Talks
Even as we have “tamed” the wilderness, we SEEK new ways of experiencing danger outside. In our Nash reading this week, we learned about Joseph Knowles who ventured naked and alone into the wilderness in Maine to show that risk and hardiness were still...
by bill-youngs | Sep 14, 2023 | Fireside Talks
During the past several weeks we have considered the wilderness, as did the early pioneers as a fearsome place in inhabited by fearsome creatures. Usually these have been large animals, such as the bear that attacked Hugh Glass and haunted the dreams of Bill Bryson....
by Brian O'Riley | Sep 14, 2023 | Fireside Talks
In Chapter Three of Wilderness and the American Mind (“Romantic Wilderness”), Roderick Nash tells us that during the late eighteenth century European essayists studied human feelings in the presence of nature. He tells us that writers such as Edmund...
by Brian O'Riley | Sep 14, 2023 | Fireside Talks
I thought of posting what follows as an announcement. Then I thought, why not post it as a Fireside Talk. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you: One of my fields of study as an historian is colonial America and the Pilgrims. So every Thanksgiving when my family gathers, I...
by bill-youngs | Sep 14, 2023 | Fireside Talks
In History 453 we will often confront the question, “Just what is wilderness anyway”? You will notice that your instructor tends to “cast a wide net” to include many different kinds and degrees of wilderness. I sense wilderness sometimes...
by bill-youngs | Sep 14, 2023 | Fireside Talks
As we approach the end of the quarter in History 373, I want to encourage you to reflect that some fine wilderness places are near at hand. You have heard about and perhaps taken art appreciation or music appreciation courses. The object in these is to enhance your...
