Captivating/Activating
This winter’s Anacapa Fellow recalls, “I was standing on the tarmac just about ten hours after the spill, as helicopters and planes were landing and big fuzzy microphones were being shoved into my face by national and international press, and I thought, ‘OK, I know I have enough knowledge for what’s about to come. But do I care enough?’”
For many years prior to 2006, scholars from outside the Thacher community came to campus on a short-term basis to engage in the intellectual and artistic life of the School by offering classes and seminars, typically for select juniors and seniors. Through the generosity of two former Thacher parents who wished to perpetuate the experience that their sons enjoyed in such seminars, the School formally established the The Anacapa Fellowship for Visiting Scholars and Artists two years ago. The program seeks to attract luminaries in a variety of fields: college professors on sabbatical and other scholars of established reputation; writers who are also teachers; painters, sculptors, musicians, and other artists. The new Anacapa House for Visiting Scholars allows for comfortable living and provides indoor and outdoor space for informal gatherings of students and faculty with the Fellow. The duration of residence at Thacher can be as short as two or three weeks or as long as a full ten-week trimester.
This winter’s Anacapa Fellow recalls, “I was standing on the tarmac just about ten hours after the spill, as helicopters and planes were landing and big fuzzy microphones were being shoved into my face by national and international press, and I thought, ‘OK, I know I have enough knowledge for what’s about to come. But do I care enough?’”
“She” is Dr. Riki Ott, marine toxicologist, author, educator, founder of three nonprofit organizations, human rights advocate, and, for the current trimester, an adjunct Thacher faculty member. “The tarmac” was a landing strip in her home community of Cordova, Alaska. The year was 1989. And “the spill”? A toxic 10.8 million gallons of crude oil loosed by the Exxon Valdez when it slammed into Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef.
Fortunately for those arctic waters and those people, Ott emphatically did care enough—and has continued to, tirelessly and ardently, for the nearly two decades that have transpired since the Exxon Valdez oil spill that wrought environmental, economic, and emotional havoc in that formerly pristine corner of the world.
As for the caring, it has taken many forms, some silent (researching and writing Sound Truths and Corporate Myths, and her new book, Not One Drop), some energetically vociferous (testifying before Congress and the Alaska State Legislature, lobbying to strengthen oil spill prevention and response laws), some scary (continuing to work despite intimidation tactics such as phone taps)—but all of it has gone to prove that collective problem-solving can give voice to the victims-cum-survivors and keep pressure on the perpetrators to hold them accountable.
“Small groups of committed people can make a difference,” she says. “In my Ultimate Civics course I'm using the Exxon Valdez example to show how disasters affect people, communities, and places. More importantly, I want to empower my students to become active in society and help tackle contemporary problems—in other words, to re-engage in the democratic ideal. Therein lies the hope of averting some of the disasters that experts warn lie ahead.”
The goal of the upper-level course: to identify, measure, and ultimately reduce Thacher’s carbon footprint—in other words, to engage in a global problem by ferreting out solutions and activating them. The means: by sharing a basic understanding of complex interrelated issues and by hands-on training in the art of collective problem solving, on data collection, analysis, and presentation. The players: a dozen juniors and seniors who are excited about both the content of the class and their “definitely very passionate” professor.
“Before I took this class, I knew what it meant to have an opinion,” says Will Oberndorf, “but this has shown me how to do something about it--to take a stand on the environmental issues we face and will continue to face every day of our lives.”
Griffin Triplett appreciates how the course is helping him connect the dots in other parts of his Thacher academic world: “There are parallels to my environmental science class and overlaps of both the problems and their vocabulary.”
The raconteur in Riki (ask her about how she found her first commercial fishing boat, or about playing catch-and-release with whales and sharks) appeals to Chris Thomas: “She’s engaged me in a way that I have only found when I am studying things on my own time. Riki brings so much more enthusiasm to this topic because she lives this life every day. I don’t think a teacher who hadn’t experienced this first-hand could make this course as interesting.” Robin Walter concurs, and goes on to say that she “value[s] the course because it's so pertinent to . . . our current world. It inspects the challenges we face today and allows us to look at them from different perspectives so that we can . . .dissect and eventually overcome them.”
For Lindsay Oliver, the elective has only strengthened a long-held desire to major in Environmental Studies. “I am now fully convinced that it's what I want to do." She goes on, her response laced with the enthusiasm and “sheer passion” with which she credits her teacher: “This is our one chance, our one time on earth, to step up and make a difference. If not, we will suffer the consequences.”
“This course is all about change and what I can do to make change happen,” Chris Thomas goes on to say. “We recently saw a video of a lawyer from Pennsylvania addressing the problem of the corporation’s influence in politics and he quoted someone and said, ‘It’s time to give up hope.’ And what he meant by that was that it’s time to start acting, and making positive things happen in our communities, instead of hoping that the government will eventually decide to change, and corporations will decide to lose money in order to save the environment--because that’s not going to happen."
Classmate Ethan Nonomura, whose Senior Exhibition topic is Environmental Ethics in Land Conservation, agrees: “I have started to realize that this class is called Ultimate Civics because it is not just about government and policy, like most civics classes—it’s about actually doing your civic duty as an American and a member of the Earth community. Asking, “Why don’t people know about this or that? Why do we put up with it when we do know?’ [Taking] action: that is the ‘ultimate.’”
For more information about Dr. Ott’s first book and her work, please visit soundtruth.info, copperriver.org (the Copper RIver Watershed Project was a pioneering effort in Alaska on creating sustainable communities), alaskaforum.org (the Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility provides citizen oversight of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System), and orafoundation.org(the Oiled Regions of Alaska Foundation is a community foundation working to rebuild people and communites from the socio-economic effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill).
Scholars and artists who wish to apply for the Anacapa Fellowship can contact Molly Perry, Dean of Faculty (mperry@thacher.org) or Jake Jacobsen, Anacapa Fellowship Coordinator (jjacobsen@thacher.org).
Back
This winter’s Anacapa Fellow recalls, “I was standing on the tarmac just about ten hours after the spill, as helicopters and planes were landing and big fuzzy microphones were being shoved into my face by national and international press, and I thought, ‘OK, I know I have enough knowledge for what’s about to come. But do I care enough?’”
“She” is Dr. Riki Ott, marine toxicologist, author, educator, founder of three nonprofit organizations, human rights advocate, and, for the current trimester, an adjunct Thacher faculty member. “The tarmac” was a landing strip in her home community of Cordova, Alaska. The year was 1989. And “the spill”? A toxic 10.8 million gallons of crude oil loosed by the Exxon Valdez when it slammed into Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef.
Fortunately for those arctic waters and those people, Ott emphatically did care enough—and has continued to, tirelessly and ardently, for the nearly two decades that have transpired since the Exxon Valdez oil spill that wrought environmental, economic, and emotional havoc in that formerly pristine corner of the world.
As for the caring, it has taken many forms, some silent (researching and writing Sound Truths and Corporate Myths, and her new book, Not One Drop), some energetically vociferous (testifying before Congress and the Alaska State Legislature, lobbying to strengthen oil spill prevention and response laws), some scary (continuing to work despite intimidation tactics such as phone taps)—but all of it has gone to prove that collective problem-solving can give voice to the victims-cum-survivors and keep pressure on the perpetrators to hold them accountable.
“Small groups of committed people can make a difference,” she says. “In my Ultimate Civics course I'm using the Exxon Valdez example to show how disasters affect people, communities, and places. More importantly, I want to empower my students to become active in society and help tackle contemporary problems—in other words, to re-engage in the democratic ideal. Therein lies the hope of averting some of the disasters that experts warn lie ahead.”
The goal of the upper-level course: to identify, measure, and ultimately reduce Thacher’s carbon footprint—in other words, to engage in a global problem by ferreting out solutions and activating them. The means: by sharing a basic understanding of complex interrelated issues and by hands-on training in the art of collective problem solving, on data collection, analysis, and presentation. The players: a dozen juniors and seniors who are excited about both the content of the class and their “definitely very passionate” professor.
“Before I took this class, I knew what it meant to have an opinion,” says Will Oberndorf, “but this has shown me how to do something about it--to take a stand on the environmental issues we face and will continue to face every day of our lives.”
Griffin Triplett appreciates how the course is helping him connect the dots in other parts of his Thacher academic world: “There are parallels to my environmental science class and overlaps of both the problems and their vocabulary.”
The raconteur in Riki (ask her about how she found her first commercial fishing boat, or about playing catch-and-release with whales and sharks) appeals to Chris Thomas: “She’s engaged me in a way that I have only found when I am studying things on my own time. Riki brings so much more enthusiasm to this topic because she lives this life every day. I don’t think a teacher who hadn’t experienced this first-hand could make this course as interesting.” Robin Walter concurs, and goes on to say that she “value[s] the course because it's so pertinent to . . . our current world. It inspects the challenges we face today and allows us to look at them from different perspectives so that we can . . .dissect and eventually overcome them.”
For Lindsay Oliver, the elective has only strengthened a long-held desire to major in Environmental Studies. “I am now fully convinced that it's what I want to do." She goes on, her response laced with the enthusiasm and “sheer passion” with which she credits her teacher: “This is our one chance, our one time on earth, to step up and make a difference. If not, we will suffer the consequences.”
“This course is all about change and what I can do to make change happen,” Chris Thomas goes on to say. “We recently saw a video of a lawyer from Pennsylvania addressing the problem of the corporation’s influence in politics and he quoted someone and said, ‘It’s time to give up hope.’ And what he meant by that was that it’s time to start acting, and making positive things happen in our communities, instead of hoping that the government will eventually decide to change, and corporations will decide to lose money in order to save the environment--because that’s not going to happen."
Classmate Ethan Nonomura, whose Senior Exhibition topic is Environmental Ethics in Land Conservation, agrees: “I have started to realize that this class is called Ultimate Civics because it is not just about government and policy, like most civics classes—it’s about actually doing your civic duty as an American and a member of the Earth community. Asking, “Why don’t people know about this or that? Why do we put up with it when we do know?’ [Taking] action: that is the ‘ultimate.’”
For more information about Dr. Ott’s first book and her work, please visit soundtruth.info, copperriver.org (the Copper RIver Watershed Project was a pioneering effort in Alaska on creating sustainable communities), alaskaforum.org (the Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility provides citizen oversight of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System), and orafoundation.org(the Oiled Regions of Alaska Foundation is a community foundation working to rebuild people and communites from the socio-economic effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill).
Scholars and artists who wish to apply for the Anacapa Fellowship can contact Molly Perry, Dean of Faculty (mperry@thacher.org) or Jake Jacobsen, Anacapa Fellowship Coordinator (jjacobsen@thacher.org).
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