On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Fredonia students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to engage in Maintaining Joyful Discovery in Natural Spaces, a conversation about the joy of discovery. The event is slated from noon until 3 p.m. in Williams Center Room S204D.
The three-hour, interactive, discussion-oriented forum will aim to engage participants in discussion with practitioners from a wide range of disciplines, including biology, curriculum and instruction, art and new media, English and the Faculty Student Association. The workshop will also feature off-campus speakers from Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and Nature Sanctuary Society of Western New York, as well as an independent forester.
Speakers will facilitate conversations about how and why citizens can act in support of their natural spaces and how they can participate in local conversations to maintain such spaces. Educators in attendance at the forum can learn about how natural area experiences can be integrated into their curricula to ensure opportunities of ongoing discovery for future generations of students. Participants with an interest in outdoor education, conservation, natural areas and sustainability will benefit from the opportunity to learn alongside these experts and participants.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided, with a focus on local foods.
At the end of the forum, a van will take participants out to the College Lodge to explore the little known eastern section of the property.
The event is being organized by Biology Professor Jonathan Titus and Priscilla Titus, representing the biology and ecology components of the program; Dr. Michael Jabot, representing the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Joseph Pusch, resident manager of the College Lodge, representing the Faculty Student Association; Dr. Twan Leenders and Mark Baldwin, representing Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History; Distinguished Professor Alberto Rey, representing the Department of Visual Arts and New Media; Dr. KimMarie Cole, representing the Department of English; Dennis Wilson, representing independent foresters; and Jacqueline Courtney Swift, representing the Nature Sanctuary Society of Western New York.
For more information, contact Dr. Titus at titus@fredonia.edu.
