coexist – Page 8 – bailey college of the environment @ wes u

chicken-keeping course creates community

In Spring 2023, a chicken-keeping course for Middletown residents taught by Amy Grillo, associate professor of the practice in the Allbritton Center for Public Study and Environmental Studies, was held at the College of the Environment. The Chickens 101 project was started by Diana Martinez, assistant director of the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships, along with Lorenzo Jones, co-founder and co-executive director of the Katal Center for Equity, Health and Justice, as part of the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships’ Cultivating Justice initiative. Jones is the Jewett Center’s Re-Imagining Justice Mentor-in-Residence this year.

youth advocacy day in hartford

by acmorris

Last April, I had the opportunity to attend Youth Advocacy Day at the Connecticut Capitol Building in Hartford. This event was hosted by several Connecticut environmental organizations including the Sierra Club, the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, and Sunrise Connecticut. I attended the event with Sunrise Movement Wesleyan, a student organization committed to environmental advocacy through engagement with politics. The purpose of the day was to facilitate discussion between young people invested in environmental issues and Connecticut legislators. The day saw a large turnout of students, specifically high schoolers, invested in environmental progress.

coe’s allison orr launches new book

by acmorris

Allison Orr’s book launch for her new book Dance Works, Stories of Creative Collaboration was held on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in the Romance Languages Lounge. The ceremony was accompanied by a live set by DJ Mo Torres and DJ Lloyd.

The book launch was a celebration of Allison’s accomplishments, both on and off of the Wesleyan University campus. Off campus, Allison is the artistic director of Forklift Danceworks, an award-winning dance company based in Austin, Texas. Her work draws inspiration from the habitual motion of labor, and highlights unlikely dancers. By incorporating ensembles of real workers, her choreography challenges traditional notions of dance. It acknowledges that everyone and everything is in constant motion, and all people are part of a collective dance. Allison finds the beauty within worker’s daily motions; it is these motions which build our cities and lives. Through her work, Allison engages entire communities through art. In addition to her contributions within the dance world, Allison Orr is a research fellow in the Bailey College of the Environment and her book was written at the encouragement of College of the Environment Director Barry Chernoff.

coe hosts ct food justice gathering

by kwu01

Wesleyan’s Bailey College of the Environment and Cultivating Justice co-hosted the Connecticut Food Justice Gathering at Wesleyan on April 29, 2023. The gathering was a chance for knowledge exchange, to build power across intersectional issues, and for the Wesleyan community to learn more about the food justice movement in Connecticut. On the Bailey COE side, the event was organized by Malana Rogers-Bursen, project coordinator for food security, environmental justice, and sustainability.

blackwater photo exhibit by zhang ’23 opens 4/21 @ the coe

by Laurie Kenney

Music and environmental studies major Lily Zhang ‘23 is the winner of the 2023 Elizabeth Verveer Tishler Keyboard Competition here at Wesleyan. When she’s not playing the piano, Lily enjoys scuba diving and freediving and is an enthusiastic amateur blackwater photographer. The opening reception for her COE photo exhibit, A Blackwater Dive, will take place at the College of the Environment, 284 High Street, on Friday, April 21, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm.

zitner ’23 presents “the garden festival”

by acmorris

The environmental studies (ENVS) linked major requires a senior capstone project (thesis, essay, performance, etc) on an environmental topic. English and environmental studies major Talia Zitner’s senior capstone project is The Garden Festival, an event that aims to make sustainability more accessible and exciting to the Wesleyan community, through a number of sustainable vendors, featured student organizations, and musical performances curated by The Shed Collective. The event will take place on Friday, April 21 from 3 to 10 pm in the backyard of Russell House. Learn more about Talia, and the event, below!

pearl’s ocean filibuster explores human-ocean relationship

by acmorris

Ocean Filibuster, a performance developed by Assistant Professor of Theater Katie Pearl, co-artistic director of the Obie-winning company PearlDamour, explores the complex relationship between humans and the ocean and centers around the debate between two fictional rivals, Mr. Majority and the Ocean, as they launch into a battle which will determine whether or not the Ocean will be abolished. The project draws together the work of scientists and creatives to generate a dynamic story which illuminates the urgency of our current environmental crisis. The Wesleyan performance of Ocean Filibuster will take place May 4-6 at the CFA.