UNC Asheville’s Fall 2019 Greenfest, Sept. 20-29, Will Feature Mko’Mosé as Keynote Lecturer and Host of Annual Farm-to-Table Dinner

a man smiles standing in a garden
September 9, 2019

UNC Asheville will welcome Mko’Mosé, scholar of indigenous thought and practices, as Fall 2019 Greenfest keynote lecturer, and as guest host of the university’s fifth annual Farm-to-Table Dinner. The dinner, a ticketed event including campus-grown and local produce, and wild and indigenous foods, will take place beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 23 on the University Quad. The Greenfest Keynote Lecture, A Meditation on Remembering What it Means to be Human: Knowledge for a Changing Climate, is free and open to everyone at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the Highsmith Student Union Blue Ridge Room.

Mko’Mosé (Andrew Judge) is a professor and coordinator of Indigenous Studies at Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Ontario, Canada, and is developing programming in indigenous land-based practices. He leads Minjimendan (In a state of remembering), an indigenous foods garden dedicated to helping the community remember its role in restoring the vitality of the Earth. The spiraling terraced garden aims to inspire a revitalization of indigenous foods systems and land-based sustainability practices. In Mko’Mosé’s words, “The spiral is the basis for all life on Earth, and it’s found in almost every natural growing thing on the planet. What it comes down to is the spinning of the earth around the sun, and the sun going around the galaxy.” He also is an initiated Mayan day-count keeper and regularly participates in the ancient ceremonial practices of his Anishinaabe ancestors.

UNC Asheville Greenfest is held each fall and spring to celebrate and educate about sustainability and build community. Fall 2019 Greenfest, Sept. 20-29, will have the theme “Home Sweet Home.” In addition to the public events listed below, Greenfest will feature many events specifically for students, including campus bird and garden walks, bicycle workshops, kayaking and stargazing, and service days to help “green” campus and to weatherize homes of low-income community members. For the full list of events, visit sustainability.unca.edu/greenfest.

Fall 2019 Greenfest Public Events

Friday, Sept. 20

  • Clay Birdhouse Workshop – 10 a.m.-noon, UNC Asheville Art Studios, 838 Riverside Dr., Asheville. Visit unca.edu/greenfest to RSVP. Free.

Saturday, Sept. 21

  • Equinox Sunset Ceremony with Mko’Mosé – beginning 6:30 p.m., Mullen Park fire pit, across from Rhoades Robinson Hall. Free.

Monday, Sept. 23

Tuesday, Sept. 24

  • Greenfest Keynote Lecture: A Meditation on Remembering What it Means to be Human: Knowledge for a Changing Climate with Mko’Mose – 7 p.m., Highsmith Student Union Blue Ridge Room. Free.

Wednesday, Sept. 25

  • Climate Reality Meeting, with presentation by the WNC Chapter of The Climate Reality Project – 6:30-8:30 p.m., Highsmith Student Union French Broad Room (125). Free.

Thursday, Sept. 26

  • Film Screening: Hidden RiversThis documentary from Freshwaters Illustrated explores the rivers and streams of Southern Appalachia and follows the work of conservation biologists – 7 p.m., Highsmith Student Union Grotto. Free.

For more information, visit sustainability.unca.edu/or email the UNC Asheville Office of Sustainability (sustain@unca.edu).

Visitor Parking on the UNC Asheville Campus – Visitors may park in faculty/staff and non-resident lots from 5:00 p.m. until 7:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, and on weekends, holidays, and campus breaks. Visitors are not permitted to park in resident student lots at any time.  

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