Podcast Episode 7
Can beauty and aesthetics help save biodiversity? with Dr Hilary Leighton
Can beauty and aesthetics help save biodiversity? with Dr Hilary Leighton
In this episode of What the f*** is biodiversity, Prof. Ann Dale and Dr. Hilary Leighton have a wide-ranging conversation about whether the beauty and aesthetics of nature can help halt and reverse biodiversity loss. From ecopsychology and Aristotle to place bonding and reciprocity with nature, we catch a glimpse of their creative process as they brainstorm ideas for a new journal article.
About Dr Hilary Leighton
A lifelong apprentice to nature and psyche, Dr Hilary Leighton is Associate Professor at Royal Roads University, an Ecopychotherapist and Registered Clinical Counsellor in private practice. Drawing upon the wisdom of ecopsychology, depth psychology, general systems theory, the poetic traditions and embodied, nature-and arts-based practices, her scholarly research and teaching seek ways to: extend the notion of the individual psyche to a world ensouled; inspire a whole-human, ecologically intelligent epistemology; and cultivate reconnection with a sentient Earth. She examines and reflects the ethical dilemma, suffering and loss of our relationships with wildness and contemplates learning as an initiatory journey toward maturation, regeneration as a more soulful way of belonging.
Founding Director of Continuing Studies at RRU, Leighton curated leading-edge courses, certificates and public events for over a decade. As Director of Individualized Study in the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, she assisted graduate students in creating meaningful personalized pathways of study. Now, as faculty in the School of Environment and Sustainability, and program head for the MA in Environmental Education and Communication, she teaches ecopsychology, supervises graduate students along with publishing and presenting nature-responsive research at environmental conferences.
Credentials
– Master of Education: Curriculum & Instruction from Simon Fraser University (2004)
– Interdisciplinary PhD from University of Victoria (2014)
– University of Victoria Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship Award (2011-2014)
– Integrative Body Psychotherapy Practitioner Certification from the IBP Institute, Venice, CA (2012)
– Facilitator of The Work That Reconnects (2012)
– Registered Clinical Counsellor in BC (since 2014)
– Myers Briggs Type Indicator Qualifying Certification from Psychometrics Canada (2005)
– ACEC Counselling Certificate, from The Open Learning Agency (1999)
About Hilary Leighton
A lifelong apprentice to nature and psyche, Hilary Leighton is Associate Professor at Royal Roads University, an Ecopychotherapist and Registered Clinical Counsellor in private practice. Drawing upon the wisdom of ecopsychology, depth psychology, general systems theory, the poetic traditions and embodied, nature-and arts-based practices, her scholarly research and teaching seek ways to: extend the notion of the individual psyche to a world ensouled; inspire a whole-human, ecologically intelligent epistemology; and cultivate reconnection with a sentient Earth. She examines and reflects the ethical dilemma, suffering and loss of our relationships with wildness and contemplates learning as an initiatory journey toward maturation, regeneration as a more soulful way of belonging.
Founding Director of Continuing Studies at RRU, Leighton curated leading-edge courses, certificates and public events for over a decade. As Director of Individualized Study in the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, she assisted graduate students in creating meaningful personalized pathways of study. Now, as faculty in the School of Environment and Sustainability, and program head for the MA in Environmental Education and Communication, she teaches ecopsychology, supervises graduate students along with publishing and presenting nature-responsive research at environmental conferences.
Credentials
– Master of Education: Curriculum & Instruction from Simon Fraser University (2004)
– Interdisciplinary PhD from University of Victoria (2014)
– University of Victoria Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship Award (2011-2014)
– Integrative Body Psychotherapy Practitioner Certification from the IBP Institute, Venice, CA (2012)
– Facilitator of The Work That Reconnects (2012)
– Registered Clinical Counsellor in BC (since 2014)
– Myers Briggs Type Indicator Qualifying Certification from Psychometrics Canada (2005)
– ACEC Counselling Certificate, from The Open Learning Agency (1999).
Episode Notes
FIND HILARY ONLINE
- Royal Roads University Profile
- Research Gate Profile, Hilary’s Publications listing
- Complicated Gifts: Remembering How to Live and Love Well Through Crisis, by Hilary Leighton, Medium
AUTHORS, POETS AND BOOKS
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Speaking of Nature, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Orion Magazine
- Robin Wall Kimmerer: ‘People can’t understand the world as a gift unless someone shows them how, by James Yeh, The Guardian
- The Beauty Myth, by Naomi Wolf
- Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
- David Whyte, Poet
- The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan
- Francis Thompson, Poet
- Excerpt from ‘Mistress of Vision’ poem: ‘That though canst not stir a flower Without troubling of a star’
SCHOLARS, PRACTITIONERS AND PHILOSOPHERS
- Can beauty save our planet?, by Chris Jordan, Ted Talk
- I and Thou, by Martin Buber, Walter Kaufmann (translator)
- Phenomenology of Perception, by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenological philosopher, Colin Smith (Translator)
- David Abram, Founder and Creative Director,
- The Spell of the Sensuous. Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human, by David Abram
- Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, by David Abram
- Immanuel Kant, Philosopher
- Dr. Bill Plotkin, Depth psychologist, Wilderness Guide, and Agent of Cultural Evolution
JUNGIAN ANALYSIS AND HUMAN SHADOW
- Psychology and Alchemy (Jung’s Collected Works #12), by C.G. Jung
- A Little Book on the Human Shadow, by Robert Bly
- Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places, by James Hollis
- Owning Your Own Shadow. Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche, by Robert A. Johnson
- Meeting the Shadow. The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature, by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams (Editors)
ARISTOTLE AND EUDAIMONIA
- Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle, Joe Sachs (Translator)
- Aristotle on Knowledge, by M.K. Smith, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education
ECOPSYCHOLOGY
- Ecopsychology, journal by Liebert, peer-reviewed
- Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life, by Andy Fisher
- Coming Back to Life. Practices to Reconnect our Lives, our World, by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown
- Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche, by Bill Plotkin
- The Voice of the Earth. An Exploration of Ecopsychology, by Theodore Roszak
- Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind, by Theodore Roszak (Editor), Allen D. Kanner and Mary E. Gomes
PLACE BONDING
- Wild (Re)turns: Tracking the Epistemological and Ecological Implications of Learning as an Initiatory Journey Toward True Vocation and Soul, by Hilary Leighton
* See pages 213-217 for place bonding
- Mindscapes and Landscapes: Rendering (of) Self Through a Body of Work, by Hilary Leighton
CONNECTING TO NATURE
- Bonding with Biodiversity: 5 tips to deepen your connection to nature, by Emily Jerome, National Environmental Treasure Blog
- Benefits of walking video
- Urban Biodiversity with Nina-Marie Lister, episode 4 of What the f*** is biodiversity
- The Canadian City Parks Report 2020, by Park People
- Turning to City parks during Covid-19, Jaime Clifton-Ross, National Environmental Treasure Blog
- Wild ways: how readers have been helping wildlife in their gardens, by Phoebe Weston, The Guardian
- ‘It satisfies a nurturing instinct’: how lockdown has created a veg-growing revolution, by Alexandra Topping, The Guardian
RECIPROCITY WITH NATURE
- Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology, by Andreas Weber
* Also see Robin Wall Kimmerer and Dave Abram above
IMPORTANCE OF WORMS
- Soil is the foundation of our food web: We need to stop treating it like dirt, by Jaime Clifton-Ross, National Environmental Treasure Blog
- Earthworms are more important than pandas (if you want to save the planet), by Sarah Johnson, The Conversation