Resources for Teachers and Students
We are pleased to offer the following online resources to encourage teachers and students to enhance their engagement with the Lowell Humanities Series. We encourage you to adopt our speakers' most recent book as well as shorter essays and contextual material as part of your syllabi. Additionally, the resources below can be paired or used separately to fit a single class or a longer unit. These links allow students to watch a Youtube video, or read a short essay or interview, before or after one of our events. Teachers might also consider using these resources in conjunction with evening reflection activities, or opportunities for reviews/reports during or beyond class-time. For speakers book titles, please see their bios. Articles in academic journals are available to members of the BC community through the library webpage.
Suzanne Simard
"Finding the Mother Tree"
September 27, 2023
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, 100
Interviews:
- NPR: Trees Talk To Each Other. 'Mother Tree' Ecologist Hears Lessons For People, Too https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/04/993430007/trees-talk-to-each-other-mother-tree-ecologist-hears-lessons-for-people-too
- New York Magazine: Suzanne Simard Changed How the World Sees Trees https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/suzanne-simard-interview.html
- On Being: Suzanne Simard: Forests Are Wired For Wisdom https://onbeing.org/programs/suzanne-simard-forests-are-wired-for-wisdom/
- Literary Hub: Finding the Mother Tree: An Interview with Suzanne Simard https://lithub.com/finding-the-mother-tree-an-interview-with-suzanne-simard/
Reviews:
- The New York Times: The Woman Who Looked at a Forest and Saw a Community https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/books/review/finding-the-mother-tree-suzanne-simard.html
- The Washington Post: A scientist’s career in communion with trees https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/a-scientists-career-in-communion-with-trees/2021/05/20/382b7838-ac1b-11eb-ab4c-986555a1c511_story.html
- The Guardian: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard review – a journey of passion and Introspection https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/08/finding-the-mother-tree-by-suzanne-simard-review-a-journey-of-passion-and-introspection
Articles:
- The New York Times Magazine: The Social Life of Forests https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/02/magazine/tree-communication-mycorrhiza.html
Excerpts:
- The Scientist: Book Excerpt from Finding the Mother Tree https://www.the-scientist.com/reading-frames/book-excerpt-from-finding-the-mother-tree-68727
Robert Samuels
“His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice”
September 13, 2023
7:00 p.m. • Robsham Theater Arts Center
Interviews:
- NPR: Many know how George Floyd died. A new biography centers on how he lived
- CNN: Who was George Floyd? New book captures full scope of his life and family’s legacy
Reviews:
- The New York Times: Who was George Floyd?
- Esquire: I Was George Floyd
- The Atlantic: The America That Killed George Floyd
Articles:
- The New Yorker: The War on Cities
- The Washington Post: Telling George Floyd’s story gave us a deeper understanding of racism
Excerpts:
- The Washington Post: How George Floyd Spent His Final Hours
Suzanne Simard
"Finding the Mother Tree"
September 27, 2023
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, 100
Interviews:
- NPR: Trees Talk To Each Other. 'Mother Tree' Ecologist Hears Lessons For People, Too https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/04/993430007/trees-talk-to-each-other-mother-tree-ecologist-hears-lessons-for-people-too
- New York Magazine: Suzanne Simard Changed How the World Sees Trees https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/suzanne-simard-interview.html
- On Being: Suzanne Simard: Forests Are Wired For Wisdom https://onbeing.org/programs/suzanne-simard-forests-are-wired-for-wisdom/
- Literary Hub: Finding the Mother Tree: An Interview with Suzanne Simard https://lithub.com/finding-the-mother-tree-an-interview-with-suzanne-simard/
Reviews:
- The New York Times: The Woman Who Looked at a Forest and Saw a Community https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/books/review/finding-the-mother-tree-suzanne-simard.html
- The Washington Post: A scientist’s career in communion with trees https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/a-scientists-career-in-communion-with-trees/2021/05/20/382b7838-ac1b-11eb-ab4c-986555a1c511_story.html
- The Guardian: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard review – a journey of passion and Introspection https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/08/finding-the-mother-tree-by-suzanne-simard-review-a-journey-of-passion-and-introspection
Articles:
- The New York Times Magazine: The Social Life of Forests https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/02/magazine/tree-communication-mycorrhiza.html
Excerpts:
- The Scientist: Book Excerpt from Finding the Mother Tree https://www.the-scientist.com/reading-frames/book-excerpt-from-finding-the-mother-tree-68727
Matthew Desmond
"Poverty, By America"
October 11, 2023
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, 100
Interviews:
- Habitat for Humanity: A conversation with Matthew Desmond https://www.habitat.org/stories/a-conversation-with-matthew-desmond
- The Atlantic: The War on Poverty Is Over. Rich People Won. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/poverty-in-america-book-matthew-desmond-interview/674058/
- The Ezra Klein Show: Ezra Klein Interviews Matthew Desmond https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/podcasts/ezra-klein-podcast-transcript-matthew-desmond.html
- NPR: Sociologist Matthew Desmond on why poverty persists in the U.S. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/19/1164585458/sociologist-matthew-desmond-on-why-poverty-persists-in-the-u-s
- Dissent: The Faces of Eviction https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/matthew-desmond-evicted-interview-photos-eviction-lab/
Reviews:
- The New Yorker: How America Manufactures Poverty https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/20/matthew-desmond-poverty-by-america-book-review
- The New York Times: In Matthew Desmond’s ‘Poverty, by America,’ the Culprit Is Us https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/review/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond.html
Articles:
- The New York Review of Books: The High Cost of Being Poor https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/20/the-high-cost-of-being-poor-matthew-desmond/
- The 1619 Project: In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/slavery-capitalism.html?smid=tw-share
- The New York Times: The Moratorium Saved Us. It Really Did. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/opinion/sunday/eviction-covid-pandemic-housing.html
Excerpts:
- Penguin Random House: Excerpt from Evicted https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/247816/evicted-by-matthew-desmond/9780553447453/excerpt
Linda Villarosa
"Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation"
October 18, 2023
7:00 PM | Gasson Hall 100
Interviews:
NPR: '1619 Project' journalist lays bare why Black Americans 'live sicker and die quicker' https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1103935147
Coloradan Alumni Magazine: Linda Villarosa and Racial Disparities in Healthcare https://www.colorado.edu/coloradan/2023/03/06/linda-villarosa-and-racial-disparities-healthcare
The Nation: Linda Villarosa on the Impact of the Racist Health Care System on “Every Body” https://www.thenation.com/article/society/linda-villarosa-health-race/
TED: Linda Villarosa on the hidden toll of racism on health https://www.ted.com/podcasts/ted-interview/linda-villarosa-on-the-hidden-toll-of-racism-on-health-transcript
Reviews
The Washington Post: Racism’s ill effects on the health-care system — and the body itself https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/06/10/racisms-ill-effects-health-care-system-body-itself/
- The New York Times: The Roots of Black Pain in America Articles https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/books/review/under-the-skin-linda-villarosa.html
Articles:
The New York Times Magazine: The Long Shadow of Eugenics in America https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/magazine/eugenics-movement-america.html
1619 Project: Myths about physical racial differences were used to justify slavery — and are still believed by doctors today. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-differences-doctors.html
Men’s Health: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Health https://www.menshealth.com/health/a39817297/linda-villarosa-under-the-skin-racism-black-health/
Excerpts
Penguin Random House: An Excerpt from Linda Villarosa’s Under the Skin https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/2022/07/28/from-the-page-an-excerpt-from-linda-villarosas-under-the-skin/
Capital B: How Racism in America Affects Black Babies — Even Before They’re Born https://capitalbnews.org/excerpt-under-the-skin-black-maternal-health/
Kate Brown
"The Interminable Cycles of Chernobyl’s Catastrophes: War, Accident, and War Again"
October 25, 2023
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, 100
Interviews
- Environment and Society: Interview with Kate Brown, author of Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future https://www.environmentandsociety.org/mml/interview-kate-brown-author-manual-survival-chernobyl-guide-future
- Mother Jones: Russia Just Seized Chernobyl. Here’s Why It Matters. https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2022/02/russia-just-seized-chernobyl-heres-why-it-matters/
Articles
- Eurozine: Resurrecting the Soil https://www.environmentandsociety.org/mml/interview-kate-brown-author-manual-survival-chernobyl-guide-future
- The New Yorker: The Pandemic is Not a Natural Disaster https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/the-pandemic-is-not-a-natural-disaster
- American Historical Review: A World of Contradictions: Globalization and Deglobalization in Interwar Europe https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article/128/2/703/7204537?login=true
Joy Harjo
"The Interminable Cycles of Chernobyl’s Catastrophes: War, Accident, and War Again"
November 16, 2023
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, 100
Interviews
On Being: Joy Harjo: The Whole of Time https://onbeing.org/programs/joy-harjo-the-whole-of-time/
- Vogue: Joy Harjo On When She Realized Poetry Has Power https://www.vogue.com/article/joy-harjo-interview
- NPR: 'Poet Warrior' Joy Harjo Wants Native Peoples To Be Seen As Human https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034751793/poet-laureate-warrior-joy-harjo
- Khôra: Interview with Joy Harjo https://www.corporealkhora.com/issue/19/interview-with-joy-harjo
- Chicago Review of Books: Joy Harjo on the Power of Poetry, and on Building a Comprehensive Canon of Indigenous Poems https://chireviewofbooks.com/2020/10/13/joy-harjo-on-the-power-of-poetry/
Reviews:
- Chattanooga Times Free Press: Review: Joy Harjo’s latest book seeks to understand the work of poetry and place https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2022/dec/03/review-joy-harjos-latest-book-seeks-to-understand/
- The New York Times: From the Country’s New Poet Laureate, Poems Reclaiming Tribal Culture https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/books/review/an-american-sunrise-poems-joy-harjo.html
Fintan O’Toole
"Political Heaney”
November 16, 2023
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, 100
Interviews
- RNZ: Fintan O’Toole: documenting the evolutions of modern Ireland https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018854499/fintan-o-toole-documenting-the-evolutions-of-modern-ireland
Reviews:
- The New York Times: His Life Was Too Boring for a Memoir. So He Wrote Ireland’s. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/books/review/fintan-otoole-we-dont-know-ourselves-ireland.html
- The Guardian: Fintan O’Toole: ‘Brexit is full of hysterical self-pity’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/29/fintan-otoole-the-books-interview-brexit-english-nationalism
- The Atlantic: Ireland’s Great Gamble https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/04/fintan-otoole-we-dont-know-ourselves-review/622830/
Articles
- The Irish Times: Seamus Heaney, by Fintan O’Toole: His death 10 years ago was ‘the end of a great eloquence’ https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2023/08/26/the-end-of-a-great-eloquence-remembering-seamus-heaney-10-years-on-by-fintan-otoole/
- The New York Review of Books: Ireland’s Coming of Age and Mine https://www.nybooks.com/online/2021/10/18/irelands-coming-of-age-and-mine/