Janice P. Nimura

nimura explores women writing about the natural world

In spring 2024, Janice Nimura will be teaching ENVS272/Knowing Their Place: Two Centuries of Women Generating Wonder in the Natural World, exploring the history of women writing about the natural world. The course runs in conjunction with Professor Nimura’s newest book project.

This year as part of the 20th Annual Robert F. Schumann Where On Earth Are We Going symposium, Janice Nimura, this year’s Menakka and Essel Bailey ‘66 Distinguished Visiting Scholar and finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, delivered the opening talk entitled, “Knowing Their Place: Rachel Carson and the Women Who Came Before Her.” The talk was inspired by a book Nimura is currently researching that will dive deep into the life and thinking of Rachel Carson and explore the 19th-century women naturalists who preceded her.

think tank aims to reimagine civilization in the anthropocene

by Laurie Kenney

Each academic year, the COE invites a small group of Wesleyan faculty and undergrads plus a noted outside scholar to join together in a yearlong discussion on a critical environmental issue. The Think Tank features a new theme, and new fellows, each year. This year’s COE Think Tank features (from top left): Janice P. Nimura, the Menakka and Essel Bailey ’66 Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Bailey College of the Environment; Katja Kolcio, associate professor of dance; Ella Doherty ‘24, a biology and environmental studies major; Debbra Goh ’24, an environmental studies and religion major with a minor in the College of East Asian Studies; Andrew Curran, William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities; and Ying Jia Tan, associate professor of history. The group will spend the academic year exploring the theme of “Reimagining Civilization in the Anthropocene.”

meet bailey visiting scholar janice nimura

by lfranklin

Janice P. Nimura is the Menakka and Essel Bailey ‘66 Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Bailey College of the Environment for the 2023-24 academic year. She is a writer, finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in biography, and a member of this year’s COE Think Tank. Her work is based on groundbreaking 19th-century American women, and she is currently working on a project studying Rachel Carson and the women who came before and after her. Janice will be giving a talk on this subject, entitled Knowing Their Place: Rachel Carson and the Women Who Came Before Her, at the annual “Where on Earth Are We Going?” symposium on Saturday, October 28, here on campus. I had the pleasure of talking with her about her upcoming discussion.