Erika Bsumek | University of Texas at Austin (original) (raw)
Associate Professor of History, University of Texas at Austin. Creator of ClioVis, digital timelines software, and or the Radical Hope Syllabus Project (RadicalHopeSyllabus.com)
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Saint-Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design
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Papers by Erika Bsumek
There is an ever-increasing need for sufficient environmental literacy instruction, especially fo... more There is an ever-increasing need for sufficient environmental literacy instruction, especially for the contemporary generation of young people. The accruing complications of climate change due to anthropogenic activity will most affect the upcoming generation of students; therefore, it is paramount that they are sufficiently taught about the processes of climate change, human-nature relations, and the responsibility that we all have in remedying environmental degradation. Throughout the entire document, I call for explicit and consistent environmental and sustainability education for K-12 students: a necessary concentration that ought to be taught in all schools in Texas. I define the specific environmental and sustainability education that should be included in Texas curriculum, and identify the benefits for students, the environment, and their school and local communities. I also examine Texas's Environmental Literacy Plan, and compare it to current Texas K-12 learning standar...
Each 24th of July, residents of the state of Utah line up to watch parades, gather for picnics an... more Each 24th of July, residents of the state of Utah line up to watch parades, gather for picnics and end the evening enjoying fireworks displays that surpass celebrations in most other states on the Fourth of July. Even the youngest residents of the state of Utah are taught that Pioneer Day "commemorates the Mormon pioneers passage into the Salt Lake Valley from Emigration Canyon in 1847." Yet, Pioneer Day marks more than just the arrival of Latter-day Saints into the region. It also
Norman Rockwell's painting of Glen Canyon Dam is both among his most famous and, in many ways, le... more Norman Rockwell's painting of Glen Canyon Dam is both among his most famous and, in many ways, least like the images for which he is most famous. Unlike many of his pictures, it is set in the West, and it focuses heavily on a landscape instead of on a single person's facial expression. The Glen Canyon painting draws the viewer's attention to the face of the dam and features a small Navajo family gazing down at the water storage unit and the cables that had the potential to carry electricity to the reservation and transform their lives. How did Rockwell come to paint this picture, and what can its composition teach us about the Navajos' relationship to Glen Canyon Dam? Rockwell's painting now hangs in the visitor's center at Glen Canyon Dam and has been viewed by millions of people. Not only are the circumstances under which it was produced interesting, so too are the elements of the image itself. If we look at the painting, "reading" it from left to right, we encounter nature: first we see the warm colors of the red Navajo sandstone cliffs of Glen Canyon that would, after years of alteration and modification, create the external brace for the concrete dam. Next comes wildlife: two birds, an eagle and a hawk, soar wingtip to wingtip, above the dam. Below them is Rockwell's depiction of the 710-foot-high white concrete dam and the bridge that was built to traverse the canyon. Finally, in the foreground, we see a Navajo
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
There is an ever-increasing need for sufficient environmental literacy instruction, especially fo... more There is an ever-increasing need for sufficient environmental literacy instruction, especially for the contemporary generation of young people. The accruing complications of climate change due to anthropogenic activity will most affect the upcoming generation of students; therefore, it is paramount that they are sufficiently taught about the processes of climate change, human-nature relations, and the responsibility that we all have in remedying environmental degradation. Throughout the entire document, I call for explicit and consistent environmental and sustainability education for K-12 students: a necessary concentration that ought to be taught in all schools in Texas. I define the specific environmental and sustainability education that should be included in Texas curriculum, and identify the benefits for students, the environment, and their school and local communities. I also examine Texas's Environmental Literacy Plan, and compare it to current Texas K-12 learning standar...
Each 24th of July, residents of the state of Utah line up to watch parades, gather for picnics an... more Each 24th of July, residents of the state of Utah line up to watch parades, gather for picnics and end the evening enjoying fireworks displays that surpass celebrations in most other states on the Fourth of July. Even the youngest residents of the state of Utah are taught that Pioneer Day "commemorates the Mormon pioneers passage into the Salt Lake Valley from Emigration Canyon in 1847." Yet, Pioneer Day marks more than just the arrival of Latter-day Saints into the region. It also
Norman Rockwell's painting of Glen Canyon Dam is both among his most famous and, in many ways, le... more Norman Rockwell's painting of Glen Canyon Dam is both among his most famous and, in many ways, least like the images for which he is most famous. Unlike many of his pictures, it is set in the West, and it focuses heavily on a landscape instead of on a single person's facial expression. The Glen Canyon painting draws the viewer's attention to the face of the dam and features a small Navajo family gazing down at the water storage unit and the cables that had the potential to carry electricity to the reservation and transform their lives. How did Rockwell come to paint this picture, and what can its composition teach us about the Navajos' relationship to Glen Canyon Dam? Rockwell's painting now hangs in the visitor's center at Glen Canyon Dam and has been viewed by millions of people. Not only are the circumstances under which it was produced interesting, so too are the elements of the image itself. If we look at the painting, "reading" it from left to right, we encounter nature: first we see the warm colors of the red Navajo sandstone cliffs of Glen Canyon that would, after years of alteration and modification, create the external brace for the concrete dam. Next comes wildlife: two birds, an eagle and a hawk, soar wingtip to wingtip, above the dam. Below them is Rockwell's depiction of the 710-foot-high white concrete dam and the bridge that was built to traverse the canyon. Finally, in the foreground, we see a Navajo
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.