Ethics and Ecologies Reading Group

We read fiction about characters faced with urgent ethical questions in a wide range of ecologies, both on this planet and in alternative universes, as well as non-fiction on interactions between humans and Earth systems.

This group is an outgrowth of the World Theologies and Alternative Universes group, which morphed, as alternative universes sometimes do.

Everyone is welcome! We’re so open to ideas for future selections. There are a lot of worlds out there!

Copyright law allows us to post excerpts of works, so some readings are posted as .pdfs. If you’d like readings in a different file format, or for more information in general, or to make suggestions, contact Kris at freeman.ks [at] gmail.com

Upcoming Readings & Meetings

February 27, 2023, 7 PM In Person (SJU conference room at 5515 Phinney Ave. N)
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83082439634?pwd=S1EzWUkwQUZnbGZ0cVhSNkowZm94QT09   Passcode (shouldn’t need it): 738681

Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Sections 1-3

• Planting Sweetgrass
• Tending Sweetgrass
• Picking Sweetgrass

Past Readings: Ethics and Ecologies

January 23, 2023, 7 PM In Person (SJU conference room at 5515 Phinney Ave. N)
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82089063053?pwd=azllUHhwR0puVngzZTB2UDgycVFCZz09

Non-Fiction

Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (PDF file  Braiding Sweetgrass_Preface_Skywoman Falling_Council of Pecans   )

• Preface
• Skywoman Falling
• The Council of Pecans

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, by Suzanne Simard (PDF file Finding the Mother Tree – Suzanne Simard Preface Chapts 1_3   )

• Introduction: Connections
• Ghosts in the Forest
• Hand Fallers

“Are Trees Talking Underground? For Scientists, Itʼs in Dispute.” (PDF file The Wood Wide Web Scientists Debate Whether Trees Really Talk – The New York Times Nov 2022) Article in the New York Times with researchers debating the research on fungal networks described in Finding the Mother Tree and The Hidden Lives of Trees.

Fiction

“Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds“, from Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (PDF file  Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds from Norse Mythology by Neil Gaimen  )

“You’ll Never Believe What Happened is Always a Good Way to Start” from The Truth About Stories by Thomas King (PDF file Thomas King the_truth_about_stories Chapter One Youll Never Believe What Happened  )

November 28, 2022 7 PM: In Person (SJU conference room at 5515 Phinney Ave. N)
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83335919519?pwd=Y2t6YlhKM1R2azNIRDA4UTNKM3NWQT09 Passcode: 610006

Short Stories

• • “One Easy Trick” by Hiromi Goto from the anthology “Sun Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color”, edited by Nisi Shawl (PDF file One Easy Trick by Hiromi Goto from New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl)
  • “Vaster than Empires and More Slow” by Ursula Le Guin (PDF file: Vaster than Empires and More Slow from The Found and the Lost_ The Col – Ursula K. Le Guin)
  • “The Trees Between” by Karyn L. Stecyk from the anthology Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation, edited by Phoebe Wagner & Brontë Christopher Wieland (PDF file The Trees Between from Sunvault – Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation)

Non-Fiction

• • The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How the Communicate by Peter Wohllebe
  • Article about Seattle resident rescuing local trees from ivy: “This man has saved more than 2,000 Seattle trees from the clutches of ivy” (PDF file This man has saved more than 2,000 Seattle trees from the clutches of ivy The Seattle Times)

  
  October 24, 2022 7 PM: In Person (SJU conference room at 5515 Phinney Ave. N)
  Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83664496500
  A Prayer for the Crown Shy [novel] by Becky Chambers

  September 26, 2022
  A Psalm for the Wild-Built Book [novel] by Becky Chambers

  World Theologies and Alternative Universes

  July 26, 2022 7 PM in-person!
  A Canticle for Leibowitz [novel] by Walter M. Miller Jr

  February 7, 2022, 7:30-8:45
  Dune [novel] by Frank Herbert

  November 9, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  The Parable of the Talents [novel] by Octavia Butler, sequel to The Parable of the Sower

  October 12, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  Good Omens [novel] by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens has also been adapted in a mini-series, available on Amazon Prime and from the Seattle Public Library.

  August 3 & September 14, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  The Parable of the Sower [novel] by Octavia Butler

  July 6, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  Wild Seed [novel] by Octavia Butler

  June 1, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  The Lathe of Heaven [novel] by Ursula LeGuin

  May 4, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  The Sparrow [novel] by Maria Doria Russell–second half

  April 6, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  The Sparrow[novel] by Maria Doria Russell–first half

  March 2, 2021, 7:30-8:45
  “The Nine Billion Names of God” [short story] by Arthur C. Clarke
  https://urbigenous.net/library/nine_billion_names_of_god.html

  “The Star” [short story] by Arthur C. Clarke.
  https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf

  The Twilight Zone episode “Star” [14 min, filmed low-budget in 1985]
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9ru_P5uIJc&feature=youtu.be