April 4, 2012 | Racey Bingham
Farming and Community in Essex, NY and Bangui, Central African Republic
Racey Bingham farms in Essex from March to October and works as an agriculture and rural development consultant on the World Bank's multi-million dollar agriculture projects in the Central African Republic for the winter. She will share thoughts about her work from a personal perspective and talk about the similarities and differences in agriculture in the C.A.R. and Essex.
Racey, a former Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellow, graduated in the spring of 2007 with a dual Master's degree, in International Environmental Policy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and in Nutrition from The Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy at Tufts University. After college she spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania coordinating and implementing capacity-building agricultural and environmental projects in peri-urban and rural communities. Since leaving the Peace Corps in 2003 she has traveled back to West Africa every year for research and work with various organizations including Tufts University, Columbia University, Peace Corps, Winrock International and the Department of Defense's Humanitarian Assistance Program.
Rhetoric and the Death of the Republic: Virtue, Persuasion, and Politics in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a play about rhetoric; all the action is driven by the ability of various characters to persuade or fail to persuade others, and the climax of the play is two forum speeches. Professor Aberle will conduct a close reading of several sections of the play to look at William Shakespeare's politics and rhetoric. In this current Presidential campaign season, where the usual political rhetoric abounds, there is much to learn from Shakespeare's exploration of language, virtue, politics, and the possibilities of Republican government.
Richard Aberle currently teaches English literature at Plattsburgh State. Aberle did his doctoral work in English at McGill University in Montreal and previously studied at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago. He organized a lecture series given by leading Shakespeare scholars in the United States and Canada entitled "To Construe Things After Their Fashion: Reading Shakespeare at the Millennium" for which he was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities and New Hampshire Humanities Council grant. He lives in Essex.
Thinking Globally/Acting Locally: Lessons from Living and Working in New Zealand
Erin will give an illustated talk drawing parallels between New Zealand and the Adirondacks in balancing conservation and tourism. Erin is currently the Director of Marketing at Pok-O-MacCready Outdoor Education Center, having come to Pok-O through the Princeton Center for Interim Programs. She studied at the University of Otago in New Zealand where she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Commerce.
Sophie the Therapy Dog
Bonnie Monoski will bring her therapy dog, Sophie, a Golden Retriever, to the Library and talk about the process of becoming a Certified Therapy Dog and the work they have done together for hospice patients and nursing home residents.
Antarctic Discussion & Presentation
Laura Von Rosk, an artist, and Sam Bowser, a scientist, will present and discuss a short documentary they are creating displaying their collaborative work in the Antarctic.
Teaching in Nepal
Denise Casey, an instructor at Camp Pok-O-MacCready, will talk about her experiences teaching in Godavari, Nepal.