USF Humanities Institute

On February 20, Aimee Nezhukumatathil visited campus for a nature writing workshop with students and faculty at the USF Botanical Gardens. As part of the Humanities Institute's Multispecies Ecologies Faculty Fellowship, participants explored multispecies writing by drawing on the plants and landscape of the USF Botanical Gardens. Her visit concluded with a public reading and book signing where she read from her book, World of Wonders, as well as excerpts from her new book, Night Owl.

Get your signed copy of Night Owl here: https://squarebooks.com/book/9780063282315

It’s finally time! Here is the full list of book bachelors from the Spring 2026 Blind Date with a Book: Green Energy Edition 📚🌎 See which environmental fiction titles were the ones that got away… (PART 2/2)

It’s finally time! Here is the full list of book bachelors from the Spring 2026 Blind Date with a Book: Green Energy Edition 📚🌎 See which environmental fiction titles were the ones that got away… (PART 1/2)

Thursday, April 16: Join the Religious Studies Department for an event with Sanjay Patel "From Pixar to the Mahabharata"

7:00 PM Reception with snacks & refreshments
7:30 PM Event start

📍Marshall Student Center 4th Floor - MSC 4200 (The Chamber)

Sanjay Patel’s creative journey moves from blockbuster animation to deeply personal myth-making. After nearly two decades at Pixar Animation Studios, he directed the Academy Award–nominated short Sanjay’s Super Team, a film that fused the visual language of American superheroes with the devotional imagery of Hindu gods.

That film became the beginning of a new path—one that led him away from the studio system and into independent storytelling. Through books, illustration, and animation, Sanjay has developed a body of work that reimagines classical Indian mythology with contemporary design, humor, and emotional clarity. This exploration eventually led to the creation of the Original Neflix Preschool Series Ghee Happy, where Hindu deities appear as playful, imperfect children discovering the world together.

In this talk, Sanjay will reflect on his creative evolution, the challenges of translating sacred narratives into modern visual language, and his current project: an ambitious illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata, one of the world’s great epics. The presentation explores how ancient stories can be reinterpreted for contemporary audiences while preserving their philosophical depth and emotional power.

Our final poetry reading of the 2025-2026 Garry Fleming Poetry Series took place on April 8 with guest poet, Jake Skeets.

Author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers and Horses (newly released!), Skeets gave a public reading and Q&A on campus to students, faculty, and community members. Students also got an opportunity to meet with Skeets for a workshop session during his visit.

Thank you to the Michael Kuperman Memorial Poetry Library for partnering in this series to bring poetry and inspiration to the USF community.

Tonight! 6:00pm in EDU 105 TECO Hall. Jake Skeets will be on campus for a poetry reading and book signing.

Next week! Jake Skeets will be on campus at USF for a poetry reading and Q&A on Wednesday, April 8 at 6:00pm in EDU 105 TECO Hall.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments provided.

Jake Skeets is the author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers, a National Poetry Series selection and winner of the American Book Award, Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and Whiting Award. His work has appeared in journals and magazines such as Poetry, The New York Times Magazine, and The Paris Review. Other honors include an NEA Grant for Arts Projects, a Mellon Projecting All Voices Fellowship, and the 2023-2024 Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi. He is from the Navajo Nation and was appointed the 3rd Navajo Nation Poet Laureate. He is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma.

On February 24, Professor Laura Ogden of Dartmouth College helped lead a multispecies walking seminar in Flatwoods Park with faculty and students. We were also joined by Zac Caple of Aarhus University whose work focuses on central Florida.

As part of the Humanities Institute's Multispecies Ecologies Faculty Fellowship, participants practiced "arts of noticing" to attune themselves to particular species as well as the larger ecological assemblages of which they are part. The walk concluded with a mapping exercise drawing on participant field notes back at the USF Botanical Gardens.

In the evening, Laura Ogden gave a public talk entitled "Loss and Wonder at the World’s End: Darwin, Colonialism, and the Lost Tribes of the Fuegian Archipelago."

On February 25, Dr. Ogden also held a more intensive seminar for USF faculty and students on her book Loss and Wonder at the World's End and multispecies research more broadly.

January 29, 2026: Academics from Florida, Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Georgia visited USF students and faculty for a conference of the Association for Core Texts and Courses on Plato’s Republic.

Special thanks to USF faculty member Dr. Brendan Cook for organizing this opportunity with both undergraduate and graduate students in mind, alongside the Department of Humanities & Cultural Studies, the Department of Philosophy, and the School of Interdisciplinary and Global Studies for joining us in funding this event ☺️

Join us on Monday, March 2nd for a screening of MRS ROBINSON, a documentary detailing the story of Ireland’s first woman president. Be drawn in by an inspiring tale, discuss with other community members, and see a special video message from Consul General Sarah Kavanagh! 🎥🇮🇪

This event is being hosted in partnership with USF Irish Culture and Language Club, and the documentary is being shown courtesy of the Irish Consul General in Miami.

February 24, 2026: Dartmouth Professor of Anthropology, Laura A. Ogden, will give a talk on campus titled "Loss and Wonder at the World’s End: Darwin, Colonialism, and the Lost Tribes of the Fuegian Archipelago"

This event is free and open to all students, faculty, staff, and the community.

Feb. 24 | 6:00 PM | TECO Hall (EDU 105) College of Education

Laura Ogden is a leading scholar in environmental anthropology and feminist political ecology. Her award-winning book Swamplife: People, Gators, and Mangroves Entangled in the Everglades is considered a foundational text in multispecies studies. Her latest book Loss and Wonder at the World’s End is based on a decade of research in the Fuegian Archipelago of Chile. In her talk, she will be discussing the ongoing legacy of Charles Darwin in the archipelago, with particular focus on the ways Darwin’s depictions of Indigenous people in the region continues to shape the present. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation.

This event is supported by ResearchOne

Aimee Nezhukumatathil will be on campus at the University of South Florida this month for a public reading and book signing!

When: Friday, February 20, 2026, 6:00 PM
Where: Marshall Student Center (MSC 4200) The Chamber

Desserts & coffee provided

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of two illustrated essay collections, Bite by Bite and World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, & Other Astonishments, which was chosen as Barnes and Noble’s Book of the Year and named a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Aimee has also authored four award-winning poetry collections and is releasing her newest poetry book, Night Owl, in March.

Her honors include a poetry fellowship from US Artist Fellows, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pushcart Prize, a Mississippi Arts Council grant, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. For a decade, she served as the poetry editor for Orion and Sierra magazines. A professor of English and Creative Writing for over twenty five years, she also serves as a firefly guide for Mississippi State Parks.

This event is free and open to all students, faculty, staff, and the community.