Author to speak at USU on environment
Ann Ronald, professor of literature and environmental studies at the University of Nevada-Reno, will speak Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Room 335 of the Taggart Student Center. The reading is open and free to the public.
Ronald is the author of “The West of Edward Abbey,” “Earthtones,” and many other articles, according to press release.
Ronald’s forthcoming book, “GhostWest,” is an exploration of the natural, historical and cultural forces that come together to influence the human understanding of place.
“Ronald has a particular view of place in the West,” said Elaine Thatcher, program coordinator. “Writing about place is really important. It expresses how one feels.”
“Much environmental writing has focused on the idea of place as somehow separate or apart from culture, particularly untouched or unspoiled wilderness areas,” said Melody Graulich, editor of the “Western American Literature Journal” and an English professor at Utah State University.
According to the press release, this view of nature and culture has been much critiqued in recent works by governmental historians, including Richard White and William Cronon.
Ronald writes from a variety of perspectives, using various disciplinary approaches in an engaging personal voice of discovery. Her works are based on traditional scholarship in a variety of fields but are also grounded in personal experiences, Graulich said.
The lecture is sponsored by the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, an organization is in the college of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences established at USU in 1986. The Center is meant to enlarge the understanding of Mountain West region through study.
Its programs include the annual Bennion Teachers’ Workshop for the Perpetuation of Democratic Principles, The Evans Biography Awards, The Utah History Fair, the Thomas J. Lyon Book Award, the Mountain West Center Faculty Fellowship, many student scholarships and public presentations.