OF BEING COMMUNITY
Oct. 14-16
Sowell Collection Conference
the new Planthropology Podcast
The Sowell Family Collection in
Literature, Community and the Natural World
FEATURED FROM OUR WRITER PORTFOLIO
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
Discover the world’s most prominent writers on the natural world
Explore the Collection
The Sowell collection will take you through an archive of American authors deeply engaged with the nature of community, the conjunction of scientific and spiritual values, and the fragility of wilderness.
What are these pages for?
A welcome message from Bryan Giemza,
Sowell Collection Public Scholar
Welcome to The Nature of Being Community, a user’s guide to the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World (or simply the Sowell Collection).
The Sowell Collection is indisputably one of the world’s leading archives of authors who write about the natural world. Sowell writers write about the community of nature and the nature of community, for these things are deeply related.
The generosity of former TTU Regent James E. Sowell and his family established the collection for the benefit of the public and brings a unique set of documentary materials to Texas Tech’s Special Collections Library in Lubbock, Texas. And while the physical materials are housed and carefully preserved here in Texas, the energizing ideas and astonishing creativity documented on their pages offer a treasury for the world.
The Nature of Being Community offers you a place to learn about what archives are, how this one began, and what you will find in it. You can hear from the diverse writers who comprise it as well as the many groups of people who use and enjoy it. We hope this guide will help you understand how you can connect with the Collection and discover your own passions in it.
These web pages are curated by the Texas Tech Honors College, and crucially, by students, to foster the creative use and interpretation of Collection materials.
But this archive is your archive, too. The nature of being community, one of the great themes of the Sowell Collection writers, acknowledges that this Collection needs you to participate in its life. For the Sowell Collection was conceived in a unique spirit of community. By using these materials and taking part in the larger conversation, you are invited to be a part of the Sowell Collection Community, too.
Again, warmest welcome! /Bryan
Library Collection Staff
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
INTERACTION BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN CULTURES
The writers of this collection don’t fit traditional labels, and are collectively defined by their focus on the interaction between the physical environment and human cultures.
Learn more about the collection>
Get to know the Collection’s place on earth and horizons
Livable Futures and the Climate Center – This video showcases an event held by Livable Futures and the Climate Center.
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
Learn about the interconnectivity between the physical environment and human culture.
Explore the collection
“The Sowell Collection is a web of interconnections, a glorious treasure hunt for willing scholars and writers.”