Tanner Humanities Center

Co-hosted with Environmental Humanities and the American West Center, and the School of Environment, Society and Sustainability.

In collaboration with:

• Humanities Institute, Arizona State University
• Center for Humanities & the Arts, University of Colorado Boulder
• Blake Center for Engaged Humanities, Colorado State University
• Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research, University of Wyoming
• Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes

This symposium works to coordinate efforts to preserve the waterways that are the basis of life, health, and prosperity for all life in Utah.

Gather with local water scholars, stewards, and artists to learn about ongoing projects, discover practices of stewardship from stakeholders across the state, and participate in fostering networks for further collaboration.

We will share strategies of sustainability and water management as well as oral history and art projects to document and preserve stories and histories of the Colorado River, the Bear River, Great Salt Lake, and Utah Lake.

Free and open to public and academic audiences.

Speakers and presenters

Lisa Bickmore, Utah Poet Laureate 

Brian Codding, Professor of Anthropology
University of Utah 

Brigham Daniels, Professor of Law and Co-Director, Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment
University of Utah 

Joshua Graham, Assistant Professor of Art and Art History
University of Utah 

Teri Harman, Masters candidate in Environmental Humanities
University of Utah 

Daniel Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Utah Valley University 

Leia Larsen, Water and Land Use Reporter
The Salt Lake Tribune 

Beth Parker, Assistant Professor of Law and Wallace Stegner Research Fellow
University of Utah 

Brad Parry, Tribal Council Vice Chairman for Natural Resources
Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation 

Paisley Rekdal, Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing
University of Utah 

Marian Rice, Associate Director, Peak Water Sustainability Engine
University of Utah 

Jack Schmidt, Janet Quinney Lawson Chair and Director of the Center for Colorado River Studies
Utah State University 

nan seymour, Poet
Making Waves Artist Collaborative 

Gregory Smoak, Professor of History
University of Utah 

Teresa Wihelmsen, P.E., State Engineer and Director, Division of Water Rights
Utah Department of Natural Resources

Complete program will be available in August, 2025.

For updates and announcements, join our mailing list by emailing beth.james@utah.edu

Featured image: Utah Lake, view from southwestern shores, by Teri Harman