by Brian O'Riley | Nov 7, 2023 | Fireside Talks
(Note I visited the Opal Creek Wilderness region on the weekend of December 1-3, 2017, and wrote this talk during the following week.) I am calling this final Fireside Talk “Return to Opal Creek” even though I had never even been to Opal Creek until the...
by bill-youngs | Nov 2, 2023 | Fireside Talks
As we venture more deeply into the wilderness in literature, film, and philosophy we are learning a kind of language, composed of stories and concepts. Along the way we are discovering a “conversation” that uses the terms of that language. Our study of the...
by Brian O'Riley | Oct 19, 2023 | Fireside Talks
One (of many) recurrent themes in History 373 is the question of the ways in which and the degree to which we expose ourselves to the wilderness. And which of these ways and degrees seem legitimate — as measured by our class standards — and which levels of...
by Brian O'Riley | Sep 14, 2023 | Fireside Talks
During the past couple of months in History 453 we have often discussed the spiritual value of wilderness; and during the past couple of weeks we have studied a closely-related concept, the therapeutic value of wilderness — think Nash and “Wild.”....
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....
