Poetry, Rivers, and Global Kinship with Wang Ping

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"Poetry, Rivers, and Global Kinship" features internationally acclaimed poet, translator, and interdisciplinary artist Wang Ping (emerita, Macalester University) in a multifaceted, two-part event that integrates poetry, environmental humanities, and participatory art. The occasion centers on her anthology _Wind Crossing Grasses: Poems from China’s Dragon Rivers_ and the global Kinship of Rivers Project (https://kinshipofrivers.org), an international public art initiative that connects river communities worldwide through poetry, visual art, and prayer flag installations.

In keeping with the Humanities Core cycle theme, this event addresses urgent questions of ecological crisis, cultural memory, and human responsibility through artistic practice.

Through a lecture and poetry reading at 11am, students will encounter diverse voices from river communities in China and beyond who have been affected by environmental transformation. Following the lecture and poetry reading, students are invited to take part in an interactive prayer flag workshop, which invites students to create their own flags with poetry and art for the Earth. UCI students’ new flags will join Wang’s global installation, detailed on the Kinship of Rivers Project site (https://kinshipofrivers.org), continuing their journey to spread a message of kinship and care.
"Poetry, Rivers, and Global Kinship" promotes interdisciplinary teaching and experiential learning. It directly supports the Humanities Core theme Environment | Encounter | Entanglement, embodying these concepts through both intellectual exploration and creative practice. By combining literary study with hands-on art-making, the event encourages students to see themselves as active participants in global ecological systems.

CO-SPONSORS:
The Departments of English, East Asian Studies, Global and International Studies, the Humanities Core Program, Environmental Humanities Research Center, and the Department of Asian American Studies

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