Abenaki Acknowledgement
We acknowledge this land we sit on and the people whose home this is. This land is the land of the aboriginal Abenaki people who have lived here for over 12,900 years. The Abenaki people faced centuries of war and disease stemming from the European invasion, continued eradication pre and post American Revolution and sterilization as a result of the Vermont Eugenics laws in the 20th century. The resilience and strength of the Abenaki people continues to manifest itself today in their protection of the land and their communities. As members of the Missisquoi Tribe of the Abenaki Nation shared with us, “We will always stand up and protect our aboriginal title.
Apocalypse, Futurity, and (Re)Making the World:
Are We at the Beginning, the End or Somewhere Else?
may be a help to living it well.
-Ursula K. LeGuin
This is a turbulent time for the planet, the United States, and Goddard College. Challenges abound. Uncertainty is commonplace. And we are being asked to (re)consider who we are, what we believe, and what our future will be.
Our theme for this residency was created as a call to question where you are in any of the particular stories in which you exist and consider how that questioning changes what is possible. How does your worldview open or foreclose possibilities? What stories have you been holding about where the planet, the United States, and Goddard College are in their life cycles? How do those stories inform your decision-making as a person, community member, artist/writer, scholar, activist, learner, healer, practitioner, etc.? What are the sources of your stories/worldview? How does the location of those sources affect the kinds of stories that appear in and are embraced within those spaces? What makes it possible to think outside of one’s personal story in order to understand other stories? What skills are required in navigating these stories and the worlds they create?
Keeping these questions in mind and heart, we invite you to utilize the creative and intellectual resources of your degree track to propose answers to the residency theme as well as visions for what the planet, the United States, and/or Goddard College could look like in the future.