Ecology, Attention, Action Discussion Group

hands on tree trunk istock

Environmental collapse permeates our lives, creating anxiety, depression, helplessness, anger. One known path towards healing and towards collective action is to come into a more tangible relationship with our environments. This begins with what we call ecological attention: A deepened focus on relationships among organisms and environments. When we leave our labs, screens, and classrooms to move out into the world, we ground our sense of ecological health/unhealth in the experiential as well as the theoretical. We reawaken awareness of ecological beauty, strangeness, and complexity, including the sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste of the environments that house and sustain us. This deepened awareness leads to a desire for care. A desire for care leads to a desire to act. Ecology, Attention, Action. 

What?

With support from the College of Arts and Sciences Expanding Horizons Initiative, we're hosting a monthly discussion group centered on this concept.

Who? 

Open to all (students, faculty, staff, community members, visitors).

When?

About once a month on a Friday in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, 12:45-2pm (CWRU "Community Hour"). 10/11, 11/8, 12/6, 1/17, 2/14, 2/28, 4/11, 5/9

!! Register for Fall meetings you want to attend, see below !!

Where?

Classroom-based meetings held at 11635 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH (click here for a map), room 140. Excursions take place at nearby locations, details below.

Register

Optional but appreciated, click here to register

Type

Excursion plus lunch. Meet at 11635 Euclid Ave for a quick lunch and short walk around the area. You'll meet plants growing in the neighborhood and engage in an "active looking" practice facilitated by Fey Parrill and {to be added}. 

Ecological Attention Focus

Looking. How does shifting our visual attention allow us to reconnect to nature? How can this reconnection awaken a sense of love, and facilitate physical, mental, spiritual, and community well being? 

Reading

If you have time, click here to read this piece by Joanna Macy

Macy, J. (1995). Working through environmental despair. In T. Roszak, M. E. Gomes, & A. D. Kanner (Eds.), Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind (pp. 240-259). Sierra Club Books.

Other notes

To be added

Register

Optional but appreciated, click here to register

Type

Excursion. A Sound Walk on campus, with a portable snack. Start/end location TBA. The excursion may include some low-key performance-based attention exercises, no musical training required. Facilitated by Francesca Brittan. 

Ecological Attention Focus

Listening. How do we perceive and process sound? How do music, noise, silence, and natural soundscapes impact our physical and mental health?

Reading

 

Other notes

To be added

Register

Optional but appreciated, click here to register

Type

Classroom. Meet at 11635 Euclid Ave, Room 140. Lunch provided. Note any dietary restrictions when you register. You'll learn about research on the intersection of religious/spiritual beliefs and nature connection, facilitated by Joshua Wilt, Julie Exline and Sudi Harbool. 

Ecological Attention Focus

Feeling. How do our religious and spiritual beliefs impact what we attend to, how we feel, and how we make sense of the world. 

Reading

To be added.

Other notes

To be added
 

Type

To be added. A discussion facilitated by Tim Beal and {to be added}. 

Ecological Attention Focus

Feeling. 

Reading

 

Other notes

To be added.

Type

Excursion. Meet at the Cleveland Museum of Art (specific location to be added). You'll tour the Rose B. Simpson exhibit Strata (click here to learn more), in a discussion facilitated by Andrea Rager and Car Aldana. 

Ecological Attention Focus

Looking. How can seeing works of art through an ecocritical lens help us make sense of and address the climate crisis?

Reading

 

Other notes
Type

A discussion facilitated by Nárcisz Fejes and {to be added}. 

Ecological Attention Focus

Touching, and Tasting. How can attention to food and food systems facilitate nature connection and systems change?

Reading

 

Other notes
Type

Classroom. Reflecting on our work.

Ecological Attention Focus

All modalities. What have we learned together about looking, listening, feeling, tasting over the course of our meetings. 

Reading

 

Other notes

To be added.
 

Type

Classroom. Wrap up. Where do we want to go next? (Happens after classes have ended.)