Laura Hartman, environmental studies professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, was selected as an National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of 23 seminars and institutes supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
The NEH is a federal agency that, each summer, supports these enrichment opportunities at colleges, universities and cultural institutions, so that faculty can work in collaboration and study with experts in humanities disciplines.
Hartman will participate in an NEH Summer Institute titled “Extending the Land Ethic: Current Humanities Voices and Sustainability.” The four-week program will be held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and is directed by faculty from Arizona State University. During the month, scholars will study with leading voices in the fields of environmental ethics, nature writing, and sustainability studies. Each scholar will develop a new course or work on a publication during the Summer Institute.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet scholars of Environmental Humanities from around the country,” Hartman said. “I’m especially delighted that the institute will focus on Aldo Leopold, everyone’s favorite Wisconsin conservationist and environmental philosopher. I know my students will benefit from what I learn at this institute.”
Jim Feldman, director of the UW Oshkosh Environmental Studies Program, said the summer institute will enhance Hartman’s background in the environmental humanities. This, he said, will further reinforce the liberal arts approach to environmental studies that serves as the center of the Environmental Studies Program.
“Through the ES degree, our students receive a broad-based education with content in the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. The NEH Summer Scholar program will put Dr. Hartman in touch with some of the nation’s leading scholars in the emerging field of the Environmental Humanities. She will then bring the ideas and experiences that she has during the institute back to the classroom here at Oshkosh,” Feldman said.
The 25 educators selected to participate in the program each receive a stipend of $3,300 to cover their travel, study and living expenses.
The approximately 521 NEH Summer Scholars who participate in these programs of study will teach more than 91,175 American students the following year.
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