Eclipse Haiku Workshop for Youth and Adults

Wednesday, January 31, 6–8 pm
Free or suggested donation
Open to ages 12 and up
Limited space; register below

In this one-time workshop, participants will explore geological timescales, public art, climate science, and poetry in anticipation of the Solar Eclipse of 2024. Through brief presentations and exercises, guest artist Jason Livingston and paleontologist Phoebe Cohen will facilitate haiku-writing generated by the evening’s topics and prompts. This workshop is recommended for audiences young and old who would like to explore their creativity and engage with astronomy, geology, and climate.

No prior experience with writing haiku is expected. Please note: participants under age 16 must attend with an adult.

Livingston and Cohen presented this workshop privately for our Saturday Cafe program this past Fall; we are excited to present this second edition, open to all. Participants will have the opportunity to record audio of themselves reading their haiku aloud. Work written and recorded by participants may be requested for inclusion in Livingston and Cohen’s upcoming exhibition and public art project In the Sun’s Absence. Click here to learn more about the exhibition.

Biographies of the instructors

Jason Livingston is a media artist, filmmaker, and educator. His award-winning films have been widely exhibited at festivals and museums, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Media City in Canada. He is currently researching histories of extractive cinema and abolitionist re-imaginings of our shared world as a Presidential Fellow in the Department of Media Study, University at Buffalo.

Phoebe Cohen is a paleontologist, geobiologist, teacher, and science communicator. Her research focuses on understanding the interactions between life and the earth system in deep time by integrating micropaleontological, geological, and biological lines of evidence. Phoebe is an Associate Professor at Williams College, where her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA. She is also the co-host of the forthcoming podcast Jax and Phoebe Make a Planet, and an advocate for inclusion and equity in the earth sciences and beyond.

This event is supported by the Simons Foundation as part of their In the Path of Totality project.

Banner image: Phoebe Cohen is lecturing, standing in front of of a projection with several students gathered around a table with notebooks. On the screen is a diagram depicting the Sun, Moon, and Earth’s position during a solar eclipse, with the moon blocking the sun relative to the earth. Cohen is pointing at the moon.