1. BASTA! was successful in obtaining a Multi-disciplinary Collegial Network grant from the UVM Humanities Center to organize a series of meetings (with food) over the course of this coming year. The next one will take place this coming Monday at noon at the Bittersweet. (If you missed the RSVP and would like to come, please let me know right away.)

2. Several of us also applied and successfully received a larger grant, the Lattie Coor Collaborative Fellowship, to take the lead on a theme related to this group, “UVM and the Environmental Humanities.” The group includes faculty from Environmental Studies, History, Studio Art, Art History, and Classics. Expect to hear more of the activities of that group in the coming months.

3. Natalie Jeremijenko came and left. Activities in the wake of her visit include the exploration and development of several follow-up ideas for Environmental Health Center style projects in Burlington including a biochar closed kitchen, water buffalo riparian chocolate production, dataserver-to-greenhouse waste heat conversion projects, childxlabor, a public phenological clock, and more. Anyone interested in further information can contact Generator director Lars Hasselblad Torres.

4. The next in the Generator’s Big Maker series will be a visit by Jae Rhim Lee and Mike Ma on November 12 on the topic of “Reinventing Burial.” It sounds fascinating. Details here. (Photo above.)

5. That same day, environmental historian William Cronon will be giving a talk on “The Riddle of Sustainability: A Surprisingly Short History of the Future” at UVM’s Ira Allen Chapel at 5 p.m. Meetings with faculty and interested grad students will take place that morning and the next morning. (Contact me if you’re interested.)

6. Finally, please use this space for conversation in between BASTA! meetings.