Chicago Wilderness Research Agendas
This is a multi-organizational program to identify factors limiting
progress toward the objectives of the Chicago Wilderness Coalition and
to identify and prioritize relevant research in a variety of
disciplines.
Natural Sciences
Coordinators
for this phase of the research agenda project are Prof. Heneghan and
Lauren Umek at DePaul and Chris Mulvaney with the Chicago Wilderness
Coalition.
Social Sciences
Concentrating on the people side
of the nature/culture story, this study is being coordinated by Lynn
Westphal in the North Central Research Station of the U.S. Forest
Service in Evanston, Carol Saunders with the Brookfield Zoo and Barbara
Willard.
Humanities
This study investigates the
contributions of history, literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts
to the health of the Chicagoland’s nature/culture. Coordinating with
Chicago Wilderness are Liam Heneghan and William Jordan.
Creation and Re-creation
As the idea and practice of ecological restoration have spread around
the world in recent years it has become clear that "restoration,"
though a universal idea, is understood in very different ways in
different cultures. We are currently engaged in a series of
conversations to develop a plan for a cross-cultural exploration of the
idea of restoration, including related - or component - ideas such as
ideas of time, change, representation and authenticity. We welcome
contributions to this conversation, and encourage anyone who is
interested to contact William Jordan, newacademy@comcast.net, 815.337.6896.
Foundations of Conduct
An exploration of ideas regarding values, value creation and
conscience formation and their relevance to behavior with respect to
other species and the environment, including ideas developed by literary
critic Frederick Turner. Contact William Jordan, newacademy@comcast.net, 815.337.6896.