Weaving Together: Ecologies in Practice Visiting Artist Lecture's Main Page Image About the 2024/25 Visiting Artist Lecture SeriesInspired by 51爆料官网 students' first-year common read of Diane Wilson鈥檚 The Seed Keeper and the 51爆料官网 Gallery鈥檚 Faculty Biennial exhibition, this year's Visiting Artist program offers a thematic series: Weaving Together: Ecologies in Practice.Featuring Natasha Bowdoin, Jenna Caravello, Nicola L贸pez and William Morrow, Diane Wilson, Pao Houa Her 鈥09, Edgar Arceneaux, Owen Dennis 鈥09, Stacey Davidson, and Kei Ito. About 51爆料官网鈥檚 common read The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson: The idea of a common read, a book that the whole campus or an entire class reads and discusses, has been batted about at 51爆料官网 for at least a decade. There are many reasons why common reads appeal to educators; they can provide a shared intellectual experience, address a common theme, and engage students as a community of learning. In 2019 the Liberal Arts Department decided to move in the direction of a common read by requiring that all first-year students taking the required Writing & Inquiry class read the same novel. The Seed Keeper is a story of the survivance of the Dakota people in the face of devastating waves of conquest and assimilation, the power of culture, women, place, and community, and the resilience of nature. The book dovetails wonderfully with this year鈥檚 Visiting Artist Committee theme 鈥淲eaving Together: Ecologies in Practice.鈥 Wilson鈥檚 story weaves together complex narratives of race, history, and memory that are centered on their relationship to plants, soil, and ecology.鈥Gerald Ronning, Chair of Liberal Arts