Eyewitness to Epochal Phenomena
Have you been reading the Honors Book of the Year? Join the journey as we travel with Elizabeth Kolbert to uncover our human impact on the natural world around us in her Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Sixth Extinction. With more events coming up this semester, it’s not too late to join the discussion!
Through intriguing and prevalent comparisons between mass extinctions in the past and the widespread loss of biodiversity today, Kolbert dives deep into an issue far too often pushed to the back burner. One Honors student described his experience reading this year’s book. “Kolbert's Sixth Extinction presents a fascinating history of a biological crisis in absolutely stunning prose, captivating me with her travels to distant places as an eyewitness to the epochal phenomenon that is man-made mass extinction.”
Human disruption of Earth’s interconnected systems has upset the natural balance, resulting in a world changing far faster than in any previous era. Kolbert provides a “powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes.” Another reader described the book as “accessible, witty, scientifically accurate, and impossible to put down.” By exploring this topic through an interdisciplinary perspective, we can discover new meaning, new insights, and new solutions.
The Sixth Extinction is an award-winning example of a book fitting the Honors Program criteria: it “explores a ‘wicked’ problem in a scholarly and interdisciplinary manner,” as Honors Associate Director, Dr. Dennis Cutchins explained. “This book seemed particularly timely because in another year dominated by COVID news it feels like we’ve taken our collective eyes off the ball when it comes to the environment. The dreadful fire season we had in the West last year, and the shockingly low conditions in our local reservoirs have been pointed reminders that we all depend on our environment, and we ought to do our best to take care of it.” Learning to become a steward of the Earth is part of a complete BYU education. Bringing together information from various disciplines across campus to do just that is a natural part of the Honors experience.
Our next Book of the Year event is the Directors' Night on Wednesday, February 9th at 7 pm, hosted by our Honors Program directors. These events are designed intentionally to provide a chance for students to engage with program leadership in a casual, small group setting. “I love the chance to talk with Honors students one-on-one,” notes Dr. Magleby. “Our Directors’ Nights help us build connections with each other, with ideas, and with the world around us – and we have a lot of fun in the process.”
This semester, our Directors’ Night happens to coincide with events and exhibits at the Life Science museum celebrating Charles Darwin’s birthday with the “Twelve Days of Darwin.” We are excited to have Dr. Michael Whiting, Director of the BYU Life Science museum and Professor of Genetics lead a guided tour of the Museum for our Honors group. “What a fabulous idea,” he said. “There certainly is overlap between the writings you are focused on and what Darwin contributed.” Don’t miss this unique chance to consider themes of evolution, adaptation, and our changing environment as they relate to The Sixth Extinction.
Plus there’s more to come! The Honors Student Leadership Council (HSLC) will host two upcoming Chocolate Chats focused on the Book of the Year on February 25th and March 25th. Keep reading and watch for more details about these discussions in the Honors emails and on the Honors website. If you haven’t got a copy of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History yet, you can find it new on Amazon for under $10 or used for $5 on sites like SecondSale or Walmart.
Happy reading!
Honors students pictured left to right above: Scout Siebert, Suzy Yi, Jonathan Dixon, Elena Holmes