The Perennial Turn in Ag and Culture

Increasingly more is being written about transforming business-as-usual to heal negative impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, and cultures. Can fundamental shifts in thinking help move humanity from destructive power hierarchies and mechanistic worldviews to compatible partnerships with all life? Blending insights from physics, philosophy, communications, and life sciences with ancient and indigenous understandings, we will explore an emerging story of thinking more like a prairie than a plow. In efforts toward imaginative ways forward that offer just, reasonable, and resilient alternatives, we explore notions of perennial thinking through readings and community-engaged learning in the spheres of food/agriculture, teaching/learning, the healing and creative arts, and spirituality. 3 hrs. sem.