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Cultural and Natural Ecologies: American Studies from the Oak Spring Garden Library

Type: Residencies, Workshops, Exchanges [View all]
Posted by: Oak Spring Garden Foundation
Deadline: Fri, May 3rd, 2024

Overview: Environmental thought on this continent has a long, complex, and often contentious history, which is reflected in the extraordinary collections of rare books, manuscripts, and works of art assembled by Rachel Lambert Mellon for her Oak Spring Garden Library. Please join us for a week-long seminar considering the development of attitudes toward the natural productions of North America, examined through the political, economic, religious, social, and cultural imperatives of the British Empire, and the ensuing imperial objectives of the United States as the nation sought to extend its reach across the trans-Mississippi West.

We will begin by considering the impact of the global exchange of botanical materials on the North American landscape during the colonial and early republican periods. Then, focusing on the worlds of the explorer-naturalist John Bartram and his son, William, we will reflect on their gardens, writings, and drawings. We will ponder how their cross-cultural interactions, including those with First Nations Peoples and enslaved peoples of African descent, are revealed in their work and lives. Our study will expand to explore the transatlantic communities of naturalists, horticulturalists, artists, patrons, and others with whom the Bartrams engaged. We next will examine the impact of these interconnected communities on the environmental and societal evolution of plantation cultures in the Atlantic world—a complicated topic which is richly documented in the Library’s collections. Moving through the nineteenth century, we will focus on ways in which artists and landscape designers approached the representation and construction of landscapes across the nation. 

Your own interests will be brought to bear on our discussions, and we hope that we all will emerge from the seminar with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of American environmentalism that will inform our own decision-making as we seek a better future for our nation and the globe.

Eligibility: This short course is ideally suited to graduate students, scholars, professionals, and others with a serious interest in any of the following: environmental history, history of gardens, visual culture of natural history, history of science, and American cultural history. This course will be limited to 12 participants. 

Dates and Duration: The course runs for four days with participants arriving on Monday, September 16, 2024 and leaving on Friday, September 20, 2024. Participants should plan to arrive between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Monday, September 16, 2024.

Course Fee: $950 is all-inclusive and covers full tuition, lodging on-site for four nights in our comfortable suites, and all meals on-site (from dinner on Monday through breakfast on Friday). A limited number of full or partial Fee Waivers are available for this course. 

Selection Process: Applications will be reviewed by instructors and scholars Amy Meyers, Therese O’Malley and OSGF staff.

Application Deadline: Applications are due Friday, May 3, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST. Applicants will be notified of their status around Monday, May 20, 2024.

Full Course Description and Link to Application: https://www.osgf.org/programs-and-events-calendar/2024/9/16/gvfhc7nh38i0v1g4wxkipcuhkhdb2b

Please reach out to programs@osgf.org with any questions!

Posted on Tue, February 27th, 2024
Expires on Fri, May 3rd, 2024

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