Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative Spring Update 2022
Welcome to the spring update of the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative. This special edition details the exciting climate and environment programs you will find at Chautauqua this spring, summer and fall. The information is organized into four sections: (I) Chautauqua Institution lectures; (II) Partner programs in collaboration with the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative; (III) Special events and performances; and (IV) Classes and workshops. Under lined text links you to the web for more information. At the end of this update, you’ll find a one-page grid to help you follow along week-by-week.
But first, a few reminders:
You can get updates on current programs and events as well as links to past programs at climate.chq.org.
The Chautauqua Lake Water Quality Conference is coming up on June 18 at the Chautauqua Golf Club. It is free to attend this event, with lunch available for purchase if ordered in advance. To register online, click HERE.
Please join us on the exciting Chautauqua Travels adventure in November: Responding to a Changing Climate: Resilience and Adaptation in New Orleans.
Our Chautauquans for Sustainability group on Facebook now has 144 members!
This season we will offer free copies of a special Chautauqua edition of The World’s Littlest Book on Climate: 10 Facts in 10 Minutes About CO2. You can find the book at the Welcome Center, Colonnade, Chautauqua Bookstore and Smith Memorial Library.
I’m grateful to Chautauqua Institution colleagues and partner organizations who have worked to bring us this amazing season of climate and environment programming!
I. Chautauqua Lectures
CHQ Assembly
This June, a series of three virtual forums will explore how empathy-based tools like storytelling can help unite people across difference and inspire action. It builds on Chautauqua’s 2021 weeklong exploration on “Building a Culture of Empathy.” Each of the three forums will bring together an expert studying empathy-based approaches to climate communication with an individual using storytelling in their community to advance toward climate justice. All programs are introduced by Elif M. Gokcigdem, Ph.D., founder of One—Organization of Networks for Empathy. They are available on demand, starting on the dates indicated, at assembly.chq.org
- Climate storytelling through literary arts-based education | June 7, 2022
Featuring Cristina Bendek, a journalist, novelist and poet from San Andrés, Columbia, and author of Los Cristales de la Sal in conversation with Derek Gladwin, Professor in Language & Literacy Education and sustainability fellow at University of British Columbia, author of the 2021 book, Rewiring Our Stories: Education, Empowerment and Well-Being.
- Climate storytelling through personal narrative | July 14, 2022
Featuring Abel Gustafson, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, Department of Communication, lead author of the 2020 research paper, “Personal Stories Can Shift Climate Change Beliefs and Risk Perceptions: The Mediating Role of Emotion” in conversation with Thaddeus Popovich, co-founder of Allegheny County Clean Air Now and creator of publication Living Downwind: Personal Stories of Those Harmed by Air Pollution from Neville Island.
- Climate storytelling through visual and performing arts | June 21, 2022
Featuring Luisa Cortesi, Assistant Professor of Water, Disasters, and Environmental Justice at the International Institute of Social Studies, The Netherlands, member of Water Justice and Adaptation Lab, and creator of museum exhibit, The Flood Room: Empathy, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Preparation in conversation with Jason Davis, musician and environmental educator based in Boston, Massachusetts, and founder and director of the Climate Stories Project.
Chautauqua Lecture Series
Week Two | The Wild: Reconnecting with Our Natural World | July 2-8, 2022
Bob Inglis | July 4, 2022 | 10:45 AM | Amphitheater
Inglis is the founder and executive director of republicEn.org, a nationwide community of conservatives that promotes free-enterprise action on climate change. Based out of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University and formerly known as the Energy and Enterprise Initiative, it was founded and launched by Inglis in July 2012. A Republican and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Inglis represented South Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, where he spoke out against climate change and offshore oil drilling. Click HERE for more details.
Sally Jewell | July 5, 2022 | 10:45 AM | Amphitheater
Jewell served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 2013 to 2017 and president and CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) from 2005 to 2013. Jewell’s work focused on championing the importance of science and data, encouraging investments for more sustainable use of public lands and waters, deepening relationships with indigenous communities, and long-term conservation of the nation’s natural, cultural, and historic treasures. Jewell demonstrated a deep commitment to connecting people, especially youth, to nature through opportunities to play, learn, serve and work on public lands, which she will discuss in her lecture “America’s Public Lands: Fuel Our Soul, Unlock Our Curiosity, Connect Us to Nature.” Click HERE for more details.
Kelsey Leonard | July 6, 2022 | 10:45 AM | Amphitheater
Leonard is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation, who works as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, where her research focuses on Indigenous water justice and its climatic, territorial, and governance underpinnings. Leonard represents the Shinnecock Indian Nation on the Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean, which is charged with protecting America’s ocean ecosystems and coastlines. Leonard seeks to establish Indigenous traditions of water conservation as the foundation for international water policymaking. Her recent scholarship explores legal personhood for water. Click HERE for more details.
Terry Tempest Williams | July 7, 2022 | 10:45 AM | Amphitheater
Williams has been called “a citizen writer,” a naturalist and writer who speaks and speaks out eloquently on behalf of an ethical stance toward life. She has consistently shown how environmental issues are social issues that ultimately become matters of justice, which she will discuss as part of the Chautauqua Lecture Series. Williams is the author of Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; The Open Space of Democracy; and Finding Beauty in a Broken World; among others. Her book, The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks, won the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association 2016 Reading the West Book Award. Her most recent book is Erosion: Essays of Undoing. Click HERE for more details.
Week Six | After Dark: The World of Nighttime | July 31-August 5, 2022
Jim Richardson | August 1, 2022 | 10:45 AM | Amphitheater
Photographer Richardson has produced more than 50 stories for National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler magazines since starting at National Geographic in 1984. His work on environmental issues has covered topics ranging from feeding the planet to protecting our night skies from light pollution, featured in a National Geographic cover story on “The End of Night: Why We Need Darkness,” which he will discuss as part of the Chautauqua Lecture Series to open a week on “After Dark: The World of Nighttime.” Click HERE for more details.
Week Seven | More than Shelter: Redefining the American Home | Aug. 7-12
Taking Shelter and Building Community: Redefining Home in a Climate Action World | August 8, 2022 | 3 PM | Smith Wilkes Hall
American homes contribute one fifth of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. At the same time, our homes are increasingly vulnerable to climate threats – fire, floods, and powerful storms. How is the concept of home evolving in response to the climate crisis and what more must we do to make our homes climate friendly? A panel of sustainability leaders will focus on the meaning of home in a climate action world: William W. Braham, Professor of Architecture and Director of the Center for Environmental Building + Design at the University of Pennsylvania; Martha Bohm, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor – Department of Architecture at the University at Buffalo; and Ryan A. McPherson, Chief Sustainability Officer at the University at Buffalo.
Rahwa Ghirmatzion | August 10, 2022 | 10:45 AM | Amphitheater
Ghirmatzion has served as executive director of People United for Sustainable Housing Buffalo since 2018 and joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series to discuss the work being done by PUSH Buffalo to build green affordable housing, deploy renewable energy, and grow resilience in the city’s communities. PUSH Buffalo is a community organization that works at the grassroots to create and implement a comprehensive revitalization plan for Buffalo’s West Side, with more than $70 million invested in affordable housing rehabilitation, weatherization and green infrastructure. Click HERE for more details.
Interfaith Lecture Series
Week Two | Reconnecting with the Natural World | July 4–8, 2022
Victoria Loorz, MDiv | July 4, 2022 | 2 PM | Hall of Philosophy
Loorz is a “wild church pastor,” an “eco-spiritual director,” and co-founder of several transformation-focused organizations centering on the integration of nature and spirituality. She feels most alive when collaborating with Mystery and kindred spirits to create opportunities for people to re-member themselves back into intimate, sacred relationship with the rest of the living world. After twenty years as a pastor of indoor churches, she launched the first Church of the Wild, in Ojai California, and began to meet others with the same sense of call to leave building and expand the Beloved Community beyond our own species. She then co-founded the ecumenical Wild Church Network. Click HERE for more details.
Faith Keeper Oren Lyons | July 5, 2022 | 2 PM | Hall of Philosophy
Faith Keeper Oren Lyons is a member of the Onondaga and Seneca nations of the Iroquois Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Faith Keeper of the Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation, he serves on the Grand Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy – the Haudenosaunee. Faith Keeper Lyons holds the title of Professor Emeritus at SUNY Buffalo, where he served as professor of American Studies and director of the Native American Studies Program. He is an accomplished artist, environmentalist, author, and global presenter. Addressing conflicts by sharing traditional views on the Laws of Nature, Faith Keeper Lyons serves as a constant reminder of humanity’s responsibilities to the Earth and to our future generations. Click HERE for more details.
Fred Bahnson | July 6, 2022 | 2 PM | Hall of Philosophy
Bahnson is an award-winning writer and the author of SOIL & SACRAMENT: A Spiritual Memoir of Food and Faith, described by Bill McKibben as “profoundly and beautifully down to earth – where we all need to spend more time on a planet in crisis.” Going forth from Anathoth Community Garden, a congregation-supported agriculture project Fred co-founded in 2005 in North Carolina, it is the story of Fred’s journey into the spirituality of food and farming, and sharing stories, among numerous experiences along the way, of growing mushrooms with Trappist monks, working with Pentecostal coffee roasters, and celebrating Sukkot on a Jewish farm –all providing discovery of a relationship with the Earth that reveals that “how we hunger is who we are.” Click HERE for more details.
Sophfronia Scott | July 7, 2022 | 2 PM | Hall of Philosophy
Scott is a novelist, essayist, and leading contemplative thinker whose work has appeared in numerous publications, for which she received a 2020 Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts as well as the 2021 Thomas Merton Award from the International Thomas Merton Society. Her reflections on Merton’s wisdom and personal journals, as related in her book, The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, will inform her lecture on the theme, “Reconnecting with the Natural World.” Click HERE for more details.
John Philip Newell | July 8, 2022 | 2 PM | Hall of Philosophy
Newell is a Celtic teacher and author on spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of the Earth and every human being. In 2016 he began the School of Earth and Soul (originally called the School of Celtic Consciousness) and teaches regularly in the United States and Canada as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland. With the Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, he has authored over 15 books, including A New Ancient Harmony, Sounds of the Eternal, The Rebirthing of God, and his latest major publication Sacred Earth Sacred Soul. Click HERE for more details.
Chautauqua Heritage Lecture Series
Climate Change and Landscape Design: What Would Olmsted Do?
Week Two | July 5, 2022 | 3:30 PM | Hall of Philosophy
Part of Chautauqua Institution’s 2022 Heritage Lecture Series, and in coordination with Olmsted 200, this program will focus on the relevance of Olmsted ideals to the modern movement to create landscapes that contribute to climate sustainability goals. The presentation is part of a full day of events on July 5 designated as Buffalo Day at Chautauqua. Speakers include Adam Rome and Robert Shibley of University at Buffalo and Stephanie Crockatt of Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. Moderated by Mark Wenzler, director of Chautauqua’s Climate Change Initiative. Click HERE for more details.
Chautauqua Cinema
CHQ Documentary Series: “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America”
Week Two | July 5, 2022 | 5:00 PM | Chautauqua Cinema
To Olmsted, a park was both a work of art and a necessity for urban life. Olmsted’s efforts to preserve nature created an “environmental ethic” decades before the environmental movement became a force in American politics. With gorgeous cinematography and compelling commentary, this film presents the biography of a man whose parks and preservation are an essential part of American life. As part of Buffalo Day 2022, producer David Rotterman, Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer, Buffalo-Toronto Public Media, will be present for a talkback following the show. Click HERE for more details.
Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle (CLSC)
Robin Wall Kimmerer: Braiding Sweetgrass
Week Two | July 7, 2022 | 3:30 PM | Hall of Philosophy
Botanist and Professor Robin Wall Kimmerer will give the author’s presentation for the 2022 CLSC selection, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants. A New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller, Braiding Sweetgrass has been hailed as the “Best Essay Collection of the Decade” (Literary Hub). Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth and learn to give our own gifts in return. Click HERE for more details.
II. Partner Programs with CCI
Chautauqua Science Circle
Kaitlyn McGrath: How a TV Meteorologist Addresses Climate Change
Week One | June 29, 2022 | 9:15 AM | Hurlbut Sanctuary
McGrath is a meteorologist and climate reporter at WUSA9 in Washington, DC. As a meteorologist, she takes pride in being responsible for breaking down critical weather information and relaying it to viewers. She is also an environmental advocate committed to informing viewers about the changing climate. From rising sea levels to warming air temperatures, McGrath recognizes the consequences climate change is having on our planet and it is her goal to help educate our viewers about what can be done to help mitigate the impacts of the changing climate. McGrath was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her family has several friends and acquaintances who summer at the Institution. Click HERE for more details about the Chautauqua Science Circle summer lecture program.
Chautauqua Women’s Club
Mark Wenzler, Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative: A Net-Zero Carbon Future
Week Two | July 7, 2022 | 9:15 AM | Chautauqua Women’s Club
New York State is finalizing regulations that will drive the state to “net-zero carbon” by 2050, the date that scientists say we must stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere to avert the most catastrophic and irreversible damages of climate change. But what is net-zero carbon and what does it mean for our region? Chautauqua Institution Climate Initiative director Mark Wenzler will explore the science and policy behind net zero carbon, link it to the tradition of stewardship that has defined Chautauqua since its founding, and give examples of how our region is tackling the net-zero carbon challenge. Click HERE for more details on Chautauqua Women’s Club “Chautauqua Speaks” summer lecture program.
Western New York Land Conservancy Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy
The Western NY Wildway: A Bold Plan for Land Conservation in Our Region
Week Six | August 1, 2022 | 3:30 PM | Smith Wilkes Hall
The Western New York Land Conservancy and their partners are developing a new landscape-scale conservation initiative that is centered on protecting and connecting some of the most climate resilient lands in the Great Lakes region: the Western New York Wildway. The Wildway is a proposed corridor of protected core forests and linkages that will connect the vast forests of Alleghenies to the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, Catskills, Adirondacks, and beyond. It will be a crucial link in the Wildlands Network’s Eastern Wildway, an ambitious planned network of wildlands from Eastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and it will be part of our region’s attempt to make good on E.O. Wilson’s goal of protecting half the Earth. Join Jajean Rose-Burney of the Land Conservancy and John Jablonski of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy as they discuss what the Wildway is, why it matters, and how it will be developed. Click HERE for more details.
Chautauqua Bird, Tree & Garden Club
Sustainable Landscapes with Glenstone Museum
Week Nine | August 23, 2022 | 12:15 PM | Smith Wilkes Hall
This Bird, Tree & Garden Club special Brown Bag will feature Paul Tukey, a nationally renowned expert on organic landscaping, former journalist, author, and host of HGTV’s show “People, Places & Plants.” Tukey currently serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at Glenstone, the largest and most acclaimed private art museum in the United States. Sustainability is a core value for Glenstone, and they’ve prioritized reforestation, stream restoration, green roofs, permeable surfaces, invasive species eradication, and sustainable business operations (see their pages on Nature and the Environmental Center). Like Chautauqua, Glenstone manages an integrated natural and cultural landscape and has an education mission, so there is much to learn from their example. Following Paul’s talk there will be a panel discussion including Jennifer Francois, BTG vice president of, and Betsy Burgeson, Chautauqua Institution’s supervisor of gardens and landscapes. Click HERE for more details.
Special Events and Performances
Chautauqua Lake Water Quality Conference
Week Zero | June 18, 2022 | 9 AM | Chautauqua Golf Club
Chautauqua Institution is hosting a Chautauqua Lake Water Quality Conference on June 18 at the Chautauqua Golf Club, with registration starting at 8 AM. An update for anyone who is interested in learning more about water quality issues impacting Chautauqua Lake, this conference is an opportunity to hear from the researchers studying multiple aspects our lake’s water quality, including: nutrient cycling, the different types of algae present in the lake, toxins in Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and impacts of HABs on recreating in Chautauqua Lake. The conference will also be an opportunity to learn more about monitoring systems employed on the lake as well as what research is considered for 2022. Stick around the Chautauqua Golf Club after the talks for an opportunity to meet other people interested in the lake and exchange ideas! There is no fee to attend the conference; lunch will be available for a fee. To register online, click HERE.
Opening Reception: The Art of the Osprey: Photography of Jeanne Wiebenga
Week Zero | June 22, 2022 | 5-7 PM | Athenaeum Hotel Lobby
Chautauquan Jeanne Wiebenga has traveled the world in search of birds and other wildlife. In the summer of 2020, she discovered a pair of ospreys right here in Chautauqua County – nesting for the first time on a man-made platform along State Route 394 in Ashville. She spent the season watching and photographing the parents raise and fledge a healthy chick. Jeanne’s photos reveal the beauty of ospreys, with their striking facial markings and fierce golden eyes (or orange eyes, if you’re a young osprey.) The photos remind us what we nearly lost when DDT threatened ospreys – along with bald eagles and a host of other birds – with extinction. The photos remind us, too, that there is hope. Fifty years following the banning of DDT (in the United States, anyway), ospreys have made a steady recovery. They’re off the Endangered Species List thanks to bold action by Roger, Rachel Carson and many other individuals, organizations, and government agencies. Ospreys are returning to Chautauqua County in encouraging numbers. But there remains more work to do in light of new and emerging threats. What will our generation do to help? The exhibit is featured in the lobby of the Athenaeum Hotel from June 22 – August 31, courtesy of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute ©Jeanne Wiebenga; Installation courtesy of Jane Johnson. Click HERE for more details
Chautauqua Chamber Music: Metamorphosis
Week Two | July 2, 2022 | 4 PM | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Metamorphosis is the science of change. This program will explore how the concepts of metamorphosis and transformation manifest across music, biology, and earth science. Led by Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra double bassist Caitlyn Kamminga, the ensemble features selected CSO members and CSO Diversity Fellows. Following the performance there will be a conversation between Caitlyn Kamminga and the Director of the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative Mark Wenzler. Click HERE for more details.
Chautauqua Star Party: A Night of Astronomy
Week Six | August 3, 2022 | 6:30 PM-1 AM | Smith Wilkes Hall and Field 1
As part of the week’s special nighttime programs, Chautauqua will be hosting a family-friendly Star Party, in partnership with the Chautauqua Property Owners Association Outdoor Lighting Committee. The event includes hands-on youth programming on the world of astronomy, talks by astronomy experts, and stargazing with telescopes down by the Chautauqua lakeshore. Astronomy partners include Buffalo Astronomical Association, Martz-Kohl Observatory, and SUNY Fredonia astronomy department. CPOA representatives will also review community efforts to preserve dark night skies, a global issue to be highlighted by photojournalist Jim Richardson in his Amphitheater lecture that opens the week’s Chautauqua Lecture Series. Click HERE for more details.
Chautauqua Climate Ride: Green Fondo Weekend
September 16-18, 2022 | Chautauqua Institution
Join Chautauqua Green Fondo, the cycling party that engages an energized community and benefits the sustainability revolution. This weekend event takes place at Chautauqua Institution. Cyclists can overnight, enjoy food and drink, and meet new friends and thought leaders. Take a weekend to pedal for the planet in this beautiful part of New York and be part of creating a positive impact for the future. With three route options each day, there’s a sweet ride for seasoned to novice cyclists. Want to join your cyclist friends, but you’re not a cyclist? You can register for the non-cycling option and enjoy the weekend exploring Chautauqua. Fundraising commitment of $495 is required to participate. This covers all your expenses for the weekend. Climate Ride has tools and support to help you meet your fundraising goal. You choose where you want your funds to go. Funds can support Chautauqua Institution’s climate change initiative, the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, the Chautauqua Lake Association, and several other organizations working to advance a more sustainable future. Click HERE for more details and to register.
Chautauqua Travels
Iceland Adventure
July 10-16, 2022 | Iceland
This inaugural trip of the Chautauqua Travels program is currently full but let us know if you’d like to join the interest list for similar travels in the future. On this trip we will learn how Iceland has captured the geothermal energy beneath its surface to fuel hot springs and homes, to become a global leader in alternative energy, and used innovative technology to extend a limited growing season. Examine the effects of climate change firsthand during a glacier walk. Explore the island nation’s unique geology, with opportunities to learn about plate tectonics, volcanic activity and glacial formations. Delight in the hundreds of species of birds that nest here in the summer; the whales that swim just off the coast; and even the unique, gentle Icelandic horse. Click HERE for more details.
Responding to a Changing Climate: Resilience and Adaptation in New Orleans.
Co-Hosted by Chautauqua President Michael E. Hill, Ed.D. and husband Peter Korns along with Mark Wenzler, Director of the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative
November 6-10 | New Orleans, Louisiana
Scientific evidence shows that recent changes in temperature, warming oceans, glacial retreat, rising sea levels and extreme weather events are likely to be the result of human activity and are proceeding at an alarming rate. These impacts can be observed firsthand in New Orleans, where coastal storm surge has assaulted the city and its citizens. Yet, like its waters, New Orleans rises – with energy and pride restored. Affectionately nicknamed, “The City that Care Forgot,” you’ll meet those in New Orleans who care deeply about the city’s future. Visit the site of a notorious levee break during Hurricane Katrina and learn about efforts to protect against future flooding. Explore the bayou on a swamp boat in the heart of the delta. And find your rhythm on an exclusive walking tour with Kevin Ray Clark, a Grammy-nominated jazz musician through the French Quarter. Receive a true southern hospitality-style welcome at the home of two long-time Chautauquans who will host our group for a special Monday evening reception. A case study in resiliency, adaptation and heart, Chautauqua Institution invites you to explore the challenges and consequences of a changing climate on this five-day journey to “The Big Easy.”
Registration closes on or about August 19. Click HERE for more details and to register.
Classes and Workshops
Special Studies
Environmental Sustainability
Week Two | July 4–7 | 9-10 AM | Hultquist Center 201B | Ages: 16+
Is climate change real? Will the next wars be fought over water? How much plastic waste can our oceans tolerate? Climate change, water scarcity and poor solid waste management are three major drivers of environmental sustainability today. This course is taught by Len Sauers, PhD in Toxicology, Adjunct Professor of Sustainability, Xavier University, and retired Vice President of Global Sustainability, The Procter & Gamble Company. The course will delve into each of these issues to include an understanding of the science behind them, reasons for public discourse, global efforts needed to get on a path to resolution, and thoughts on what our inaction today will mean for our children and grandchildren. For more details and to register, click HERE.
Fueling Transportation More Sustainably
Week Seven | August 8–12 | 4-5 PM | Turner Community Center 103 | Ages: 14+
Conventional petroleum-based transportation fuels have undesirable impacts on health, the environment, and geopolitics. Advances in fuels, power/storage systems, and broadband capabilities could lead to more sustainable alternatives. The course will summarize where we are, analyze past failures, and analyze future options. This course is taught by Bill Chamberlin who will draw on his 30+ years of R&D experience in alternative fuels and engines to assess some of the obstacles to consider in pursuing more environmentally sustainable land, air and sea transportation. For more details and to register, click HERE.
Climate Salon: Turning Angst into Action
Week Seven | August 9–11 | 12:30-2:30 PM | Hultquist Center 201B | Ages: 14+
How can we turn the worry surrounding the climate crisis into joy in our communities? In this course, you will identify and develop practical solutions to a climate-related issue that’s important to you. This course is led by Brynn Fuller-Becker, a Clean Power Fellow for New Yorkers for Clean Power and Public Educator for the climate group 350.org. Come with curiosity about the climate crisis, openness to a wide range of solutions, and hope for better communities to come. No prior knowledge of climate science is required — just a desire to make a meaningful difference in your community. For more details and to register, click HERE.
CLSC Writers Workshop
Rewriting the Climate Story with UBC Professors Derek Gladwin and Naoko Ellis
Week Eight | August 17–19 | 1:15-3:15 PM | Literary Arts Center at Alumni Hall Poetry Room | Ages: 18+
Throughout human existence, storytelling has shaped societies, influencing personal, sociocultural, educational, and public conversations that impact how we currently live and imagine our futures. Creating and communicating the language of stories to ourselves and others enhance our innate voices and can empower us to engage in greater empathy, compassion, and possibility. It’s not a far stretch, then, to propose that storytelling might hold a powerful sway in addressing one of the most significant challenges of our lifetime: the climate emergency. This workshop invites participants to explore our own relationships to the climate emergency and the roles our personal and social stories play in this process. Over three days, participants will self-reflect on the stories of climate justice, creating and rewriting some of those narratives, while also considering some of the social and environmental challenges impeding action. Topics covered will include the storying process, empathy, understanding of the climate emergency, adaptive leadership, and social action. By the end of this workshop, participants will develop and write their own climate story that can then be applied to their personal and professional lives. This course is co-taught by two professors from University of British Columbia: Derek Gladwin, Ph.D., an author and educator committed to exploring transformations in culture and society through environmental, narrative, and arts-based education, and Naoko Ellis, Ph.D., a professional engineer, educator, and environmental consultant. Click HERE for more details and to register.
Climate Program Guide
| Date | Program | Start Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 7+ | Climate storytelling through literary arts-based education | N/A | CHQ Assembly |
| June 14+ | Climate storytelling through personal narrative | N/A | CHQ Assembly |
| June 18 | Chautauqua Lake Water Quality Conference | 9AM | Chautauqua Golf Club |
| June 21+ | Climate storytelling through visual and performing arts | N/A | CHQ Assembly |
| June 22 | Opening Reception: The Art of the Osprey: Photography of Jeanne Wiebenga | 5PM | Athenaeum Hotel Lobby |
| June 29 | Chautauqua Science Circle: Meteorologist Kaitlyn McGrath | 9:15AM | Hulbert Sanctuary |
| July 2 | Chautauqua Chamber Music: Metamorphosis | 4PM | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall |
| July 4* | Chautauqua Lecture Series: Bob Inglis | 10:45AM | Amphitheater |
| July 4* | Interfaith Lecture Series: Victoria Loorz | 2PM | Hall of Philosophy |
| July 4-7 | Special Studies: Environmental Sustainability | 9AM | Hultquist Center 201B |
| July 5* | Chautauqua Lecture Series: Sally Jewel | 10:45AM | Amphitheater |
| July 5* | Interfaith Lecture Series: Faith Keeper Oren Lyons | 2PM | Hall of Philosophy |
| July 5 | Heritage Lecture Series: What Would Olmsted Do? | 3:30PM | Hall of Philosophy |
| July 5 | CHQ Documentary Series: “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America” | 5PM | Chautauqua Cinema |
| July 6* | Chautauqua Lecture Series: Kelsey Leonard | 10:45AM | Amphitheater |
| July 6* | Interfaith Lecture Series: Fred Bahnson | 2PM | Hall of Philosophy |
| July 7 | Chautauqua Women’s Club: Net-Zero Carbon | 9:15AM | Chautauqua Women’s Club |
| July 7* | Chautauqua Lecture Series: Terry Tempest Williams | 10:45AM | Amphitheater |
| July 7* | Interfaith Lecture Series: Sophfronia Scott | 2PM | Hall of Philosophy |
| July 7 | CLSC Lecture: Robin Wall Kimmerer | 3:30PM | Hall of Philosophy |
| July 8* | Interfaith Lecture Series: John Philip Newell | 2PM | Hall of Philosophy |
| Aug. 1* | Chautauqua Lecture Series: Jim Richardson | 10:45AM | Amphitheater |
| Aug. 1 | The Western New York Wildway | 3:30PM | Smith Wilkes Hall |
| Aug. 3 | Chautauqua Star Party | 6:30PM | Smith Wilkes Hall, Field 1 |
| Aug. 8 | Redefining Home in a Climate Action World with UB and Penn | 3PM | Smith Wilkes Hall |
| Aug. 8-12 | Special Studies: Fueling Transportation More Sustainably | 4PM | Turner 103 |
| Aug. 9-11 | Special Studies: Climate Salon: Turning Angst into Action | 12:30PM | Hultquist Center 201B |
| Aug. 10* | Chautauqua Lecture Series: Rahwah Ghirmatzion | 10:45AM | Amphitheater |
| Aug.17-19 | CLSC Writers’ Workshop: Rewriting the Climate Story | 1:15PM | Alumni Hall Poetry Room |
| Aug. 23 | BTG Brownbag: Sustainable Landscapes with Glenstone Museum | 12:15PM | Smith Wilkes Hall |
| + means available on CHQ Assembly on-demand * means available on CHQ Assembly live and on-demand Note: 2022 Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle and Chautauqua Heritage Lecture Series events will be presented on CHQ Assembly on-demand following the Summer Assembly on a schedule to be announced. |