Many years ago, I realized that the University of Oregon wouldn't fire me for building creative writing exercises into my upper-division biology course, Amphibians and Reptiles of Oregon. I chose to take seriously the precept that science and art provide different vantage points on knowledge. We can triangulate from these disparate points in the living landscape to navigate attentively and truthfully into a wiser future. This is the premise on which the Long Term Ecological Reflections program at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest began 20 years ago.
This is resonant with the attentiveness of love and grief. This is bearing witness in a powerful way. And evidence of the fine teacher you are-- and were with your students. How fortunate they were to take your courses and learn from your example: "And I realized that by being truthful with them, I had given them tacit permission to bare that honesty, an interweaving of spirits borne on empathy."
Carter so eloquently expressed my thoughts about your post that I will ask you to reread her words. Right now, I hope you're taking care of yourself as beautifully as you did your students. ❤️
This is resonant with the attentiveness of love and grief. This is bearing witness in a powerful way. And evidence of the fine teacher you are-- and were with your students. How fortunate they were to take your courses and learn from your example: "And I realized that by being truthful with them, I had given them tacit permission to bare that honesty, an interweaving of spirits borne on empathy."
Carter so eloquently expressed my thoughts about your post that I will ask you to reread her words. Right now, I hope you're taking care of yourself as beautifully as you did your students. ❤️