Resources for Teachers and Students
We are pleased to offer the following online resources to encourage teachers and students to enhance their engagement with the Lowell Humanities Series. We encourage you to adopt our speakers' most recent book as well as shorter essays and contextual material as part of your syllabi. Additionally, the resources below can be paired or used separately to fit a single class or a longer unit. These links allow students to watch a Youtube video, or read a short essay or interview, before or after one of our events. Teachers might also consider using these resources in conjunction with evening reflection activities, or opportunities for reviews/reports during or beyond class-time. For speakers book titles, please see their bios. Articles in academic journals are available to members of the BC community through the library webpage.
Sy Montgomery
“Secrets of the Octopus”
November 20, 2024
7:00 p.m. | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews:
- Boston Public Radio: ‘Secrets of the Octopus’ Demystifies the Surprisingly Social Undersea Creatures https://www.wgbh.org/local/2024-03-20/secrets-of-the-octopus-demystifies-the-surprisingly-social-undersea-creatures
Reviews:
- The Wall Street Journal: ‘Secrets of the Octopus’ Review: Nat Geo’s Tentacle Spectacle https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/television/secrets-of-the-octopus-review-tentacle-spectacle-national-geographic-hulu-disney-e2c0aeec
- The New York Times: What Can Writers Learn From Turtles https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/books/review/of-time-and-turtles-sy-montgomery.html
- NPR: In 'Soul Of An Octopus,' An Invertebrate Steals Our Hearts https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/06/25/417043191/in-soul-of-an-octopus-an-invertebrate-steals-our-hearts
- The Guardian: A Fond Study of the Elusive ‘Alien’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/05/soul-of-an-octopus-sy-montgomery-review
- Yankee: The World of Sy Montgomery https://newengland.com/living/the-world-of-sy-montgomery/
Articles:
- Orion: Deep Intellect https://orionmagazine.org/article/deep-intellect/
Excerpts:
- Literary Hub: Familiar Yet Strange: Why Turtles Are Worth Saving https://lithub.com/familiar-yet-strange-why-turtles-are-worth-saving/
- Literary Hub: What Animals Can Show Us About More Meaningfully Encountering the Wider World https://lithub.com/what-animals-can-show-us-about-more-meaningfully-encountering-the-wider-world/
Amy Stanley
“Stranger in the Shogun’s City: From the Archive to the Page”
September 11, 2024
7:00 p.m. | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews
- The Meiji at 150 Project (podcast): Episode 25 – Dr. Amy Stanley (Northwestern) https://meijiat150.arts.ubc.ca/episode-25-dr-amy-stanley-northwestern/
- Asian Review of Books (podcast): Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese Woman and her World https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/arb-podcast-with-amy-stanley-author-of-stranger-in-the-shoguns-city-a-japanese-woman-and-her-world/
Reviews
- The Guardian: A Woman's Life in 19th-Century Japan https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/15/stranger-in-the-shoguns-city-by-amy-stanley-review-a-womans-life-in-19th-century-japan
- The Washington Post: A Headstrong Woman, a Dazzling City and the Fate of Feudal Japan https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/a-headstrong-woman-a-dazzling-city-and-the-fate-of-feudal-japan/2020/07/23/fa434ed4-af2b-11ea-856d-5054296735e5_story.html
Articles
- Slate: Writing the History of Sexual Assault in the Age of #MeToo https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/10/historians-sexual-assault-research-metoo.html
Rita Duffy
“You Can’t Hope for a Better Past”
September 25, 2024
7:00 p.m. | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews:
- INNATE: Moving from Injustice to Generating Alternatives: An Interview with Rita Duffy https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/tag/rita-duffy/
- BBC Two (video): Rita Duffy: Portrait of an Artist https://ritaduffystudio.com/broadcasts-media/
Reviews:
- Ireland and the North: Severance: Rita Duffy’s Paintings and the Affective Arctic https://ritaduffystudio.com/publications/severance-rita-duffys-paintings-and-the-affective-arctic/
- Review of Irish Studies in Europe: Reknitting Communities: Rita Duffy’s Vital Gestures https://risejournal.eu/index.php/rise/article/view/1711
Camille Dungy
“Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden”
October 9, 2024
7:00 p.m. | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews:
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Camille Dungy on Gardening as a Political Act https://www.bbg.org/article/poet_camille_dungy_on_soil_the_story_of_a_black_mothers_garden
- The Rumpus: Broadening the Scope of the Environmental Canon: An Interview with Camille T. Dungy https://therumpus.net/2023/05/01/broadening-the-scope-of-the-environmental-canon-an-interview-with-camille-t-dungy/
- Orion: Radiant Thinking: A Conversation between Pam Houston and Camille T. Dungy https://www.orionmagazine.org/article/story-of-a-black-mothers-garden-interview-camille-dungy/
- Terrain: Radical Communion: An Interview with Camille T. Dungy https://www.terrain.org/2022/interviews/camille-t-dungy/
- The Nation: Camille Dungy on the Bewildering Wonder of Rewilding https://www.thenation.com/article/society/camille-dungy-soil-black-mothers-garden/
- Literary Hub: Camille T. Dungy: Against the Isolated Nature Writer https://lithub.com/camille-t-dungy-against-the-isolated-nature-writer/
Reviews:
- The Nation: The Pleasure and Peril of Gardening While Black https://thenation.com/article/culture/camille-dungy-soil-review/
- Terrain: Lessons in Quotidian Honesty: A Review of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden https://www.terrain.org/2023/reviews-reads/soil/
- The Brooklyn Rail: Camille T. Dungy’s Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden https://brooklynrail.org/2023/05/books/Camille-T-Dungys-Soil-The-Story-of-a-Black-Mothers-Garden
- Good River Review: Naming Who's Related in the Garden: A Review of SOIL by Camille T. Dungy https://www.goodriverreview.com/post/naming-who-s-related-in-the-garden-a-review-of-soil-by-camille-t-dungy
Articles:
- The Atlantic: Housekeeping is Part of the Wild World Too https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/black-writers-environmental-literature-exclusion/672835/
- Literary Hub: The Small Mercies of Traveling With a Baby https://lithub.com/the-small-mercies-of-traveling-with-a-baby/
- Literary Hub: On Alabama’s Dark History of Brutalizing Black Women’s Bodies https://lithub.com/on-alabamas-dark-history-of-brutalizing-black-womens-bodies/
Excerpts:
- The Colorado Sun: In “Soil,” the Broad Biodiversity of the Author’s Garden Takes Root https://coloradosun.com/2023/05/14/sunlit-soil-camille-t-dungy/
- Emergence: From Dirt https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/from-dirt/
- Orion: Dirt: A Love Story https://orionmagazine.org/article/dirt/
- The Nation: Remembering a honeymoon hike near Drakes Bay, California, while I cook our dinner at the feet of Colorado’s Front Range https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/remembering-a-honeymoon-hike-near-drakes-bay-california-while-i-cook-our-dinner-at-the-feet-of-colorados-front-range/
- Literary Hub: “This’ll hurt me more”: A Poem by Camille T. Dungy https://lithub.com/thisll-hurt-me-more/
Orna Guralnik
"Love and Ideology”
October 16, 2024
7:00 p.m. | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews:
- Interview Magazine: Orna Guralnik of Couples Therapy on Her Valentine’s Day Do’s and Don’ts https://www.interviewmagazine.com/uncategorized/orna-guralnik-of-couples-therapy-on-her-valentines-day-dos-and-donts
- Elle: Couples Therapy's Dr. Orna Guralnik Knows You're Watching Her https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a40245716/orna-guralnik-couples-therapy-interview/
- Variety (video): ‘Couples Therapy’ Psychologist Orna Guralnik on Shifting to a ‘Political Agenda’ in the New Season https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/couples-therapy-orna-guralnik-showtime-docuseries-1235686513/
Reviews:
- The New Yorker: The Therapist Remaking Our Love Lives on TV https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/05/23/couples-therapy-showtime-orna-guralnik
- The New York Times: On ‘Couples Therapy,’ Domestic Angst Is Raw and Delicious https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/arts/television/couples-therapy-showtime-review.html
- Vanity Fair: In Its Next Act, Couples Therapy Takes On Modern, Messy Love https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/04/couples-therapy-season-3-new-episodes-first-look-awards-insider
- The Atlantic: Therapy Voyeurism Really Might Be Doing Some Good https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/09/watching-couples-therapy-help-me-too/620159/
- The Guardian: I’ve Seen Everything as a Counsellor. But Couples Therapy Still Has Me Gripped https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/22/ive-seen-everything-as-a-counsellor-but-couples-therapy-still-has-me-gripped
Articles:
- The New York Times Magazine: I’m a Couples Therapist. Something New Is Happening in Relationships. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/magazine/couples-therapy-orna-guralnik.html
Reuben Jonathan Miller
“Mass Incarceration, Voting Rights, and Citizenship”
November 13, 2024
7:00 p.m. | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews:
- Fresh Air: Out Of Prison But Still Trapped: Examining The 'Afterlife' Of Incarceration https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980671402/out-of-prison-but-still-trapped-examining-the-afterlife-of-incarceration
- Marketplace: Transforming the Post-Incarceration Experience https://www.marketplace.org/2024/01/03/transforming-the-post-incarceration-experience/
Reviews:
- The Washington Post: For 20 Million Felons, the Punishment Never Stops https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/for-20-million-felons-the-punishment-never-stops/2021/03/04/0e9a21d2-7484-11eb-948d-19472e683521_story.html
- The New York Times: Nearly 20 Million Americans Have a Felony Record. What Happens After They’ve Served Their Time? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/books/review-halfway-home-mass-incarceration-reuben-jonathan-miller.html
Articles:
- Politico Magazine: How Thousands of American Laws Keep People ‘Imprisoned’ Long After They’re Released https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/30/post-prison-laws-reentry-451445
Excerpts:
- Time: You Have One Minute Remaining.’ Why I’ll Always Drop Everything to Answer My Brother’s Calls From Prison https://time.com/5938898/reuben-miller-prison-family-life/
Sy Montgomery
“Secrets of the Octopus”
November 20, 2024
7:00 p.m. | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews:
- Boston Public Radio: ‘Secrets of the Octopus’ Demystifies the Surprisingly Social Undersea Creatures https://www.wgbh.org/local/2024-03-20/secrets-of-the-octopus-demystifies-the-surprisingly-social-undersea-creatures
Reviews:
- The Wall Street Journal: ‘Secrets of the Octopus’ Review: Nat Geo’s Tentacle Spectacle https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/television/secrets-of-the-octopus-review-tentacle-spectacle-national-geographic-hulu-disney-e2c0aeec
- The New York Times: What Can Writers Learn From Turtles https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/books/review/of-time-and-turtles-sy-montgomery.html
- NPR: In 'Soul Of An Octopus,' An Invertebrate Steals Our Hearts https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/06/25/417043191/in-soul-of-an-octopus-an-invertebrate-steals-our-hearts
- The Guardian: A Fond Study of the Elusive ‘Alien’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/05/soul-of-an-octopus-sy-montgomery-review
- Yankee: The World of Sy Montgomery https://newengland.com/living/the-world-of-sy-montgomery/
Articles:
- Orion: Deep Intellect https://orionmagazine.org/article/deep-intellect/
Excerpts:
- Literary Hub: Familiar Yet Strange: Why Turtles Are Worth Saving https://lithub.com/familiar-yet-strange-why-turtles-are-worth-saving/
- Literary Hub: What Animals Can Show Us About More Meaningfully Encountering the Wider World https://lithub.com/what-animals-can-show-us-about-more-meaningfully-encountering-the-wider-world/