RTPI is pleased to announce that it has been selected to host a series of Humanities NY Reading and Discussion programs. Participants will read a selection of books which are connected by the theme “Place and Story”; each title explores the multiple ways the American landscape influences our experiences and way of life. During each of these sessions, participants will gather at RTPI with others from the community to discuss what they’ve read in an informal conversation facilitated by RTPI’s Communications Coordinator and Environmental Educator, Melanie Smith. Books for the following month’s session (see schedule below) will be distributed at the end of each discussion.
An introductory session will be held on Wednesday, March 27th from 6-7pm. At this initial meeting, the program facilitator will distribute copies of the first title, “An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas” by Diane Wilson, and describe the format of successive sessions which will be held once a month during the months of April, May, June, and July. The Humanities NY Reading and Discussion Series at RTPI is free and open to the public, a limited number of loaner books are available, and anyone interested is encouraged to attend. The program schedule and book synopses are listed below. You need not attend all sessions to participate – choose the titles and times that fit your interests and your schedule! Please contact Melanie Smith at msmith@rtpi.org or 716.665.2473 ext 221 for more information. This program is sponsored by a Humanities New York Vision/Action Grant.
Program Schedule and Book Synopses
Wednesday, March 27th; 6-7pm:
Introduction to Humanities NY Reading and Discussion Program; Copies of “An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas” by Diane Wilson distributed for April session.
April Book Synopsis:
An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas by Diane Wilson
South Texas shrimper Diane Wilson chronicles her own battle against massive pollution along the Gulf Coast that she calls home.
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Friday, April 26th; 6-7pm:
Discussion of “An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas” by Diane Wilson; Copies of “The Ninemile Wolves” by Rick Bass distributed for May session.
May Book Synopsis:
The Ninemile Wolves by Rick Bass
This work of natural history follows a pack of wolves as they attempt to settle outside of protected parklands, and how their renewed presence forces us to examine in particular our ideas about wolves and more broadly the relationship between human beings and wildlife.
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Friday, May 24th; 6-7pm:
Discussion of “The Ninemile Wolves” by Rick Bass; Copies of “Red-Tails in Love” by Marie Winn distributed for June session.
June Book Synopsis:
Red-Tails in Love by Marie Winn
In the midst of New York’s Central Park, a group of nature lovers bond over watching and eventually, protecting a pair of red-tailed hawks who have chosen a Fifth Avenue apartment building as a nesting site.
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Friday, June 21st; 6-7pm:
Discussion of “Red-Tails in Love” by Marie Winn; Copies of “Grizzly Years” by Doug Peacock distributed.
July Book Synopsis:
Grizzly Years by Doug Peacock
When Doug Peacock returned from the Vietnam, he took to the wilderness of Montana and Wyoming, observing the grizzly bears that lived there and eventually becoming one of the world’s foremost experts on the majestic animals.
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Friday, July 19th; 6-7pm:
Discussion of “Grizzly Years” by Doug Peacock.
We hope you’ll join us in making time to think deeply about ideas centered on Place and Story from a variety of perspectives!
