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I currently offer a variety of lectures, seminars, and semester-long courses on
nonfiction writing, nature, and the environment. These programs, which are typically
sponsored by Undergraduate and Graduate Departments of English,
Environmental Studies, Political Science, Outdoor Recreation, and Psychology,
are interdisciplinary in nature, highlighting important relationships between
science, culture, and art. Recent clients include Randolph-Macon Woman's College,
Washington University in St. Louis, University of California Berkeley,
Indiana University Pennsylvania, and Lewis and Clark College. Creative Non-fiction |
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Creative Non-fiction
Whether for an hour or for an entire semester, much of my writing instruction is centered on the experience-based, creative nonfiction essay. In addition to covering the mechanics of transition, character, dialogue, and setting, the personal nonfiction essay allows writers to readily identify who they are in a given work - to forge, in other words, the beginnings of authentic voice. I also spend a fair amount of time talking to students about dramatic device, uncovering the essentials of sound storytelling through an exploration of traditional legend and myth. Lectures, exercises, and student "workshopping" are supplemented by various texts, including The Best American Essays 1999 (Houghton Mifflin) and In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction (W.W. Norton). Finally, we also discuss so-called "writer's life" topics - issues of creative block, the nuts and bolts of selling one's work, and current trends in the publishing industry.
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Nature Writing
Over the past several years my writing has chronicled the influence of nature on people's lives - exploring, if you will, the truth of author Lawrence Durell's comment that "we are the children of our landscape." Beyond teaching standard nonfiction techniques, my nature-writing classes are designed to help participants strengthen their voice by more fully understanding how landscape has influenced their lives. We begin with a mix of storytelling, contemplative writing exercises, and lecture, exploring commonly recurring themes within the nature myths of various cultures. From this general perspective we move to the specific, using a variety of exercises to help participants identify the transcendent, or archetypal themes of their own links to the natural world. These relationships are then profiled through the nonfiction essay.
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Nature Mythology
In the final years of his life Joseph Campbell was often asked what he thought would emerge as the next significant body of myth in Western culture. He responded by saying that new mythology would likely present the earth much the way the astronauts saw it - as a beautiful, fragile ball of life hurtling through the void of space. In other words, a dramatic crumbling of old boundaries. In truth, the great nature myths of the world have always been about anchoring human relationships with "the other," as a means of protecting or expanding connection to place. The wisdom and yearnings of these old myths can serve as starting points, as kindling for firing exactly the new perspectives Campbell was talking about. These classes explore a variety of ancient nature myths, paying special attention to the remarkable common ground they shared, as well to the evolution of distinct themes. We examine how American writers used old myths as a means of re-enchanting the landscape, as platforms from which they could launch powerful new perspectives of the wild. Two of my recent works for St. Martin's Press - Shouting at the Sky, which discusses the use of wilderness as a setting for rites of passage for at-risk youth, and Spirits of the Wild, a collection of nature myths from around the world - serve as partial framework for these discussions. Other resources include The Cry for Myth (W.W. Norton 1991), The Resurgence of the Real (Addison-Wesley 1997), The Timeless Myths (Continuum Group 1996), The Sylvan Path (St. Martins 1997), and selected essays. |
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Wildlife Ecology and The Yellowstone Wolves
Within the historic reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone are extraordinary opportunities to investigate a variety of important issues in the classroom. Besides having written The Yellowstone Wolves: The First Year, in the past three years I've given more than one hundred lectures on this topic across the country, for groups including the Audubon Society, the Graduate Wildlife Department at the University of California, Berkley, the Political Science Department at Washington University in St. Louis, and Northwestern School of Law. Focus areas include a detailed slide show chronicling major highlights of the reintroduction, profiles of current wolf behavioral studies, wolf mythology, and finally, discussions of strategic shifts environmentalists must make if they are to more effectively deal with land and wildlife-based conflicts. Longer courses are supplemented with a variety of texts, including Wolf Wars (Falcon 1995); Of Wolves and Men (Scribner's 1978); Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities (Island Press 1997); Defending Mother Earth, Orbis Books 1996; and This Place on Earth (Sasquatch Books 1997).
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Wilderness Therapy as a Catalyst for Psychological Growth
In the spring of 1997 I spent 3 months in the outback of southern Utah, studying one of the nation's most respected, compassionate wilderness programs for at-risk teens. I later followed a dozen of these 14 to 17 year-olds for nearly a year, tracking how the experience played out in their lives. This work was the basis of my latest book, Shouting at the Sky: Troubled Teens and the Promise of the Wild (St. Martin's Press, 1999). I currently offer a variety of university programs based on this experience, targeted for graduate and undergraduate classes in wilderness education, sociology, and adolescent psychology. In this course we examine a number of important questions: Why do fundamentals of family therapy enjoy more long-lasting results when delivered in an experiential setting? Could such programs have major implications for institutionally based mental health? What challenges do teens face in trying to apply the lessons of such programs in their home environments? Specifically, what is it about the outdoor setting that allows teens to craft healthy coping strategies, when other programs have failed to help them? As the number of such programs grow, are there implications for management decisions on public lands? Finally, we will look at how this form of therapy reflects the use of traditional rites of passage. My titles Shouting at the Sky and Rites of Passage (Beyond Words Publishing, 1998) serve as partial framework for such discussions. Other resources include a comprehensive slide show and video material, as well as the latest outcome studies from around the country. Depending on circumstances, there is often an opportunity to interact with the parents of former students, and/or the graduates themselves of a wilderness therapy program. |
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References: Selected Universities Where Gary has Taught
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Writer-in-Residence
Georgia College & State University Indiana University Pennsylvania, Visiting Writer University of California, Berkeley, Washington University, Political Science Department Northwestern School of Law, Environmental Law Department University of Montana, Graduate Environmental Studies Department |
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