Speakers Bureau Speaker
Karyn Riedell, Pine
Karyn Riedell is an English instructor at Arizona State University, where she teaches both traditional and online classes including composition, professional writing, American literature, popular culture, and creative nonfiction. She holds a Ph.D. in 20th century American literature. In addition to teaching, she has also worked as a full-time journalist, including coverage of environmental issues. She currently lives in Pine, Arizona.
Presentations are suitable for high school as well as adult audiences.
Films of the Southwest: Myth or Reality?
Do films present a "real" or mythical version of the Southwest? This interactive presentation explores the Hollywood image of the Southwest.
Nature Writing and Its Authors
This presentation will examine current nature writing and authors such as Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, Simon Ortiz, bell hooks, Terry Tempest Williams, and Barbara Kingsolver. This presentation will discuss important works by these writers as well as others, and will consider the following questions: What does this writer have to say about nature? What is his or her reason for writing about nature? Do these writers see their art as a way of bringing about environmental activism?
"Resist Much, Obey Little": Edward Abbey and the Monkey Wrench Gang
Through his novels, essays, and speeches, Edward Abbey was an environmental activist who wrote passionately and eloquently in his defense of the American West. When he died in 1989, the West lost one of its most powerful, brilliant, and controversial advocates. The Walt Whitman quote, "Resist much, obey little," was his motto. In his efforts to defend the land he loved, Abbey mocked the government bureaucracy and corporate forces that he believed were destroying the environment. He wrote twenty-one books, including his comic novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has inspired environmental activists ever since. One such group was Earth First!, which was formed in 1980 and advocates eco-sabotage, or "monkeywrenching." Abbey was never an official member of the group, but he did sometimes write for the organization. This presentation will examine the influence of Edward Abbey on other writers and the groups that have been inspired by his writing and environmental activism.
Rip Van Winkle Finally Wakes Up: The History of Environmental Discourse in the Media
This presentation will examine the media’s coverage of environmental issues over the past 50 years. It will consider the causes of media neglect in this area, as well as the relatively new interest brought about by the film An Inconvenient Truth. The focus will be on media coverage of global warming, but other environmental issues will be considered as well. One reason for this neglect has to do with the media’s attempt to provide balance in covering environmental issues. As a result, detractors from environmental issues – global warming in particular – received the same amount of attention and coverage as those trying to call attention to environmental problems.
