Sunday’s ThinkFest: Effects of colonization on plant knowledge in Bermuda

Think Media is delighted to announce that the third Think Fest 2017 event takes place on Sunday August 27 with Losing Ground – the effects of cultural transplantation and colonization on plant knowledge in Bermuda – a presentation by graduate student Saskia Wolsak.

Bermudian Saskia Wolsak is completing her MSc in ethnobotany at the University of British Columbia where she will begin her Phd in September 2017. Her research focus is the relationship between plants and people in Bermuda.

Ms Wolsak said: “We will be discussing the knowledge-power dynamic and the forces which led to the erosion of plant knowledge in Bermuda, with a focus on some of the plants that most influenced Bermuda’s culture and landscape including cedar, palmetto, allspice, and cassava.”

Her presentation will examine how varying types of traditional knowledge and skills underwent a series of adaptations to cope with the social, economic, and environmental pressures of living in a colonial society in a land foreign to those who ended up in Bermuda.

“A study in Bermuda ethnobotany offers many benefits. It provides insight into Bermuda’s history, into the creativity and self-sufficiency of Bermudians, into the current state of our landscape, how it got to be that way and what we can do to change it.”

Organisers have taken the opportunity to use Think Fest as a platform for introducing startups or new business concepts.

Sunday night’s ThinkFest event takes place at Liberty Theatre starting at 6:45 pm with a tasting from Wild Herbs and Plants of Bermuda with delectables such as cactus caviar and prickly pear cheesecake.

The main presentation begins immediately after at 7:10 pm.

The newest event on the Bermuda calendar, Think Fest is an opportunity for the island to celebrate and acknowledge Bermudian academics and independent thinkers, a platform for networking with potential employers, funders, other academics and researchers and a forum for discussing the latest research in a wide variety of fields.

Each of the Think Fest presenters will dive deeply into a single topic for an extended period, followed by a chat with a host and audience participation.

For Think Fest 2017, more than a dozen academics will present on topics such as the latest developments in cancer research, linguistics, media and race, ethnobotany and crime talk.

Several of them have agreed to take time off from their work and research to come to Bermuda specifically to participate in Think Fest 2017.

There are a number of sponsorship and patronage opportunities to assist with some of the extraordinary costs involved in ensuring the success of Think Fest.

Interested persons and organizations can contact us directly for more information.

Tickets for Think Fest 2017 events can be purchased online at https://think.bm or at the door.

Early bird and group discount tickets are available.

This article belongs to Politica ! The original article can be found here: Sunday’s ThinkFest: Effects of colonization on plant knowledge in Bermuda