Dr. Hildebrandt- CODE 122
Kyra Williams
Article #1- “Highs and Lows: How climate change is impacting people and plants in the Himalayas”- by Catherine martin.
This article talks about the climate changes in the Himalayas and how it affects the Missouri Botanical Gardens. One thing I would like to point out is that in the article (my opinion) talks about how we need to get voices from other people to fill in those silences and gaps, but Catherine Martin the author only took direct quotes from Robbie Hart. Who is an amazing person and a very educated man, but I find it interesting how the people at the gardens kind of contradict themselves. So, in a sense this doesn’t capture everything it could in the article. Overall, this article is a very informative and educational article. Including different types of media in it as well. I think this article would be important for us because it talks about surveys and the data they collected from those surveys.
Article #2-“The coloniality of planting” – By Ros Gray and Shela Sheikh
This article explores the twists and turns of colonialism, and it’s has impacted on the plants. One of the things the article talks about that I would like to highlight is the phrase “colonial violence”. “Colonial violence is when one country violently invades and takes control of another country, claims the land as its own”, and this doesn’t mean just taking land but can also mean extracting plants is a very good example of this colonial violence. I think it’s important that we keep that phrase in mind as we go through our surveys and our work with the Botanical Gardens in general. The key demand that the authors, Ros Gray and Shela Sheikh make in the article is that the practice of botany has a deeply intertwined history with colonialism. Initially botany was a scientific practice and through the years have been mixed with colonialism practices. The article also highlights the name Carl Linnaeus, which is the “Father of botany” in the eighteenth century known for his world-famous collecting and categorizing plants (and people). Overall, this article is a very interesting article and very informative for the work that we are doing in the garden. The article was made to raise awareness and educate people on the colonial past that botany has and how it still impacts the culture surrounding botany and plants. The efforts of the authors might demonstrate a dedication to questioning prevailing narratives and championing causes related to social and environmental equity and equality in the botany culture.
Sighted sources:
Nast, Condé. “How Colonialism Destroyed Cultures and Shaped the World.” Teen Vogue, 22 Nov. 2017, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/colonialism-explained.