LSSU grad presents ecocriticism paper at NY conference

It's easy, living in the Upper Peninsula, to take the natural beauty that surrounds us for granted. Recent Lake Superior State University graduate Pete Pietrangelo is one resident who definitely doesn't.

Pietrangelo presented a research paper this summer to the 2010 John Burroughs Nature Writing Conference and Seminar, held at the State University of New York, in Oneonta. The conference focused on nature writing relating to environmentalism, so Pietrangelo's paper fit right in.

It explored how two authors in different eras -- Ernest Hemingway and Jim Harrison -- wrote about the Upper Peninsula's natural setting. Pietrangelo discussed how our cultural point of view on our bounty of natural resources has changed over time.

"This paper really started out from the desire to study literature set in the Upper Peninsula," he says. "A comparison between the protagonists in Hemingway's Big Two-Hearted River, Nick Adams, and Harrison's David Burkett in True North, reveals that there is a distinct line between the good and bad uses of nature. When Adams approaches a hillside laden with stumps from logging operations of generations past, he sees beauty within the scenery. Upon encountering a similar embankment, Burkett observes a land devastated by man and his machinery."

The research paper is part of a new school of cultural and literary thought called ecocriticism, which explores environmental issues -- the key purpose of the conference.

"The conference was a great experience," Pietrangelo says. "The chance to present alongside some of the most eminent scholars in the field of ecocritical studies was a wonderful opportunity."

Pietrangelo graduated last May from LSSU, and works as a reporter for The Evening News in Sault Ste. Marie. He is the first LSSU student to attend the conference.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Pete Pietrangelo, LSSU