91��ܽ

On April 1, 2025, J. S. Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities Adrian Ivakhiv hosted a showcase of HUM 325’s student creative projects that explores connections between the arts and the natural world, and how we can think creatively about the ecological crisis. The exhibition was held in the Saywell Hall Atrium at SFU Burnaby, with imagination abounding as it featured numerous forms of artistic expression and creative uses of natural and recycled materials: from videography to interactive media to watercolour to embroidery.

HUM 325: Humanities and the Natural World is a study of the humanistic, scientific, political, and ideological discourses deriving from concerns with the natural environment. The Spring 2025 course, on “Ecocritique Across the Arts: Themes for a Fragile World,” introduced students to artists and movements in the environmental arts and examined contemporary and historical works of literary, visual, musical, performative, and media arts to elucidate how the expressive humanities have shaped social-cultural attitudes toward nature and the human dilemma of depending on nature as source and sustenance.

One of the course requirements was the production of a creative cultural or media work that applied such course themes as animacy, pastoral, sublime, protest, and crisis/apocalypse. The objective was to imaginatively and effectively communicate one’s insights and sense of environmental perceptions and concerns to the audience. Students had to think through what they wanted to convey and how they would execute the project, drawing on their own skills, passions, and interests as they relate to the themes and discussion points from class. The result was an eclectic showing with deeply personal reflections on not only the meaning behind the piece of art but the rationale for the materials and medium used to create and display it.

Combining praxis with theory was an effective way for students to engage more critically with the course topics and better understand and appreciate the artists whose work they studied. By exploring their creativity, students found an outlet for their self-expression that was not just academic but also fiercely personal. Ivakhiv admits that while the task was understandably daunting, most, if not all, of the students found a sense of pride in their finished projects:

“Some students hesitate at first, but almost all turn out to find some creative abilities they might not have been aware of, or hadn’t been exercising for some time, or have long wanted to “come back to” but haven’t had the opportunity. And, in the end, to be proud of their achievements. It has also made it easier for the students to appreciate each other’s efforts.”

Experiential learning in this sense has allowed students to make the course concepts and themes “their own.” The showcase, then, reflected their thoughts and ideas in ways that words in an essay alone cannot adequately express. Seeing the value in this mode of learning, Ivakhiv plans to incorporate similar creative projects in more of his courses.