Upcoming Workshops & Practica
Lichen Walk with Artist Laurie Palmer
As we walk Northwestern's campus with artist Laurie Palmer, searching for lichen, we ask: if one is many, can one really die?
Among many other questions that lichens raise for those who study them is whether they ever die. This question of dying is complicated by the question of what makes an individual organism. Lichens are famously not individual organisms, but symbiotic assemblages of multiple species from different taxonomic kingdoms that thrive in their togetherness. Alternatively, because their multiple methods of reproduction include cloning, a field of lichens growing for centuries in Florida might be understood as a “single” organism that never dies. This lichen walk, offered by the Death Studies Research group, on the occasion of the publication of The Lichen Museum by University of Minnesota Press, will explore these and other questions relating to mortality and individuality, while also introducing folks to the Lichen Museum more generally (which is free and always open).
Workshops & Practica
Highlighting our interdisciplinary membership, Death Studies organizes workshops, practica, social practice, and other interactive learning experiences that prioritize doing-as-thinking. These group sessions are free and open although registration may be required, particularly if space is limited.