In early spring, 2012, Diane Stern, the Director of Cultural Affairs, Alice Mulder, faculty member in Geography, and Madonne Miner, dean of the College of Arts & Humanities, asked Provost Mike Vaughan if he would consider funding an on-campus visit by Sandra Steingraber, acclaimed ecologist, biologist, and author of Living Downstream, Raising Elijah, as well as essays and poems examining humans’ troubled relationships with water.
Mike suggested we bring in three speakers to address water as a topic rather than just one—and Water Works was born. We now have scheduled five guests from outside WSU (photographer Rosalie Winnard, public artist Andy Dufford, Sandra Steingraber, environmentalist Dan McCool, and explorer Craig Childs) as well as WSU panels, films, art exhibits, and readings, all dealing with water. This cross-college effort is the first in what we hope will be an ongoing series of annual thematic discussions at Weber State. Please participate!