The Meaning of Wilderness and the Rights of Nature (Rod Nash)

On January 17th 2013, the Horning Endowment for the Humanities at Oregon State University welcomed Dr. Roderick Nash. He examined the definition and origin of the concept of wilderness, traced its intellectual history from hatred and fear to appreciation and preservation and concluded with some ideas about the important of wildness for the future of life on this remarkable but badly-used planet.

Roderick Nash is a professor emeritus of history and environmental studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. He is also a pioneering whitewater river guide in the American West with more than a half century on moving water that includes over 70 descents of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and being the first person to descend the Tuolumne River (using a raft).

The Mary Jones and Thomas Hart Horning Endowment was created through a bequest to the university from the late Benjamin B. Horning, an OSU alumnus (BS in pharmacy) who went on to a distinguished career in medical education and philanthropy. Dr. Horning died in 1991 at the age of 101, and in his will left the gift to honor the memory of his parents, Mary Jones and Thomas Hart Horning. Dr. Horning saw the need for a deeper understanding of the humanities by students in the sciences and other technical areas. The endowment was designed to create a closer link between science and the humanities.

For more information on the OSU School of History, Philosophy, and Religion, visit us at: http://oregonstate.edu/cla/shpr