Protecting a Sanctuary: The Cle Elum Seven.

Presenter Information

Brea Woodhouse
Nichole Newbury

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC 135

Start Date

16-5-2013

End Date

16-5-2013

Abstract

In August 2012, the Taylor Bridge Fire raged through 36 square miles of dry grassland northeast of Ellensburg, destroying 61 homes and hundreds of outbuildings. How communities and individuals deal with disasters is an area of growing interest for researchers. As the instructors of the Professional Writing and Visual Anthropology classes, we combined the approaches of our disciplines, to have our students work on joint projects to gain insight into the experiences of people affected by the Taylor Bridge Fire--be they people who were threatened by or suffered losses to the fire, or members of the community who worked on rescue or helped report the course of events to the public. The students collaborated with each other and with their subjects, many of whom were tired of dealing with news media but remained open to exploring their experience more on their own terms. These shared projects, combining words and images, create a vehicle for conveying lived realities of the Taylor Creek Fire. Here we present a selection of the projects, individual portraits which collectively cast light on broader issues of threat, loss, community and recovery in the context of disaster.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Lene Pedersen, Katharine Whitcomb

Additional Mentoring Department

Anthropology

Additional Mentoring Department

English

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May 16th, 11:40 AM May 16th, 1:00 PM

Protecting a Sanctuary: The Cle Elum Seven.

SURC 135

In August 2012, the Taylor Bridge Fire raged through 36 square miles of dry grassland northeast of Ellensburg, destroying 61 homes and hundreds of outbuildings. How communities and individuals deal with disasters is an area of growing interest for researchers. As the instructors of the Professional Writing and Visual Anthropology classes, we combined the approaches of our disciplines, to have our students work on joint projects to gain insight into the experiences of people affected by the Taylor Bridge Fire--be they people who were threatened by or suffered losses to the fire, or members of the community who worked on rescue or helped report the course of events to the public. The students collaborated with each other and with their subjects, many of whom were tired of dealing with news media but remained open to exploring their experience more on their own terms. These shared projects, combining words and images, create a vehicle for conveying lived realities of the Taylor Creek Fire. Here we present a selection of the projects, individual portraits which collectively cast light on broader issues of threat, loss, community and recovery in the context of disaster.