Overview
As an environmental humanities scholar, my research draws primarily from methodological approaches in literature, history, and rhetoric/communication studies. It is also strongly informed by scholarship in film studies and cultural studies. Ultimately, the interdisciplinary thrust of my research is driven by a desire both to recognize the complexity inherent in any environmental issue and to re-think, as holistically as possible, how we humans might work our way around some of our current environmental dilemmas.
Special Interests
Ecocritical Theory and Criticism
Film (in particular, Environmental, Documentary, and Indigenous Film)
Food (in particular, local movement initiatives)
Science in Popular Media
Publications
Monani, Salma. "A Conversation with Julian Agyeman about Just Sustainability and its Overlap with Ecopedagogy." Green Theory & Praxis: The Journal of Ecopedagogy.5.1 (2010): 51-68.
Monani, Salma. (in press) “Alaska” in Encyclopedia for American Environmental History. edited by Kathleen A. Brosnan. Forthcoming from Facts on File. 2010.
Monani, Salma. “Environmental Justice in Extreme Oil: The Wilderness and Oil on Ice.” Film essay review in Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture, 2.1 (2008): 119-127.
Monani, Salma. “Native Peoples and Nature: Documenting Changing Times through Cross-disciplinary Insights” in Proceedings of the 2006 Film and History Conference. CD-ROM. Edited by Peter Rollins, John O’Connor, and James R. Knecht. Cleveland, OK: Popular Culture Center, 2007.
Monani, Salma. Review of Bedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology. Edited by Lauret E. Savoy, Eldridge M. Moores, and Judith E. Moores. Foreword by Gordon P. Eaton, former Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. San Antonio: Trinity UP, 2006. In ISLE Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. 14.1 (Winter 2007):270-271.
William West, B. R. Simon Rosser, Salma Monani & Laura Gurak. "How Learning Styles Impact E-learning: A case comparative study of undergraduate students who excelled, passed or failed an online course in scientific/technical writing." E-Learning, 3.4 (Winter 2006).
Publications in Popular Science
Articles in The American Institute of Geology’s Geotimes Magazine. Accessible at the archives.
Publications in Geology
Monani, Salma and Valley, John W. “Oxygen isotope ratios of zircon: magma genesis of low δ18O granites from the British Tertiary Igneous Province, western Scotland.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 184, p377-392, 2001.
Monani, Salma and Valley, John W. “Zircons record low δ18O magmas: evidence from Skye and Arran, Scotland.” Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program, vol. 29, 1998.
Monani, Salma B., Wulff, Andrew, Konicki, Kathryn M., and Dunn, Steven R. “Geochemical Modeling of a Bimodal Gabbro-Syenite Intrusion, the Umfraville Complex, Grenville Province, Ontario” Northeastern Geological Society of America Abstract, vol. 28, 1996.
Current Projects
In Review
Monani, Salma and Matthew Beehr. "Tension and Harmony in John Sayles' Honeydripper: African Americans and the Environment."
Monani, Salma. "Wilderness Discourse in Adventure-Nature Films: The Potentials and Limitations of Being Caribou."
Monani, Salma and Andrew Hageman. "Ecological Connections and Contradictions: Penguins, Robots, and Humans in Hollywood's Nature Films." chapter in Hollywood's Exploited: Corporate Movies, Public Pedagogy, and Cultural Politics. Eds. Tony Kashani, Rich Van Heertum, Ben Frymer, and Anthony J. Nocella, II. (Palgrave Press).
In Preparation
Monani, Salma, Belinda Chiu, and Carlo Arreglo. editors. "Coloring the Environmental Lens: Cinema, New Media, and Just Sustainability." Special Issue of Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture.
Monani, Salma. Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action: Re-Presenting the Ecological Indian.
Brady, Miranda and Salma Monani.The Environmental Image and the Ecological Indian: NativeEnergy, Just Sustainability, and the Marketing of Social Responsibility.
Conference Presentations
"Environmental Film Festivals: Expressions of Ecomedia Inspiring Change?" Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Los Angeles, CA. March 2010.
“Ecopedagogical Strategies in an Undergraduate Environmental Film class.” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment. Victoria, BC. June 2009.
"On the Shoulders of Rachel Carson: Echoes of Silent Spring in An Inconvenient Truth." Film and History, Chicago, IL. October 2008.
Monani, Salma. “Re-visioning Environmental Justice through Film.” Topic Paper for seminar workshop "Environmental Justice Studies and Environmental Identity." Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Spartanburg, SC. June 2007.
Monani, Salma. “Re-visioning the Wilderness Idea: Documentaries on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” American Society for Environmental History, Baton Rouge, LA. March 2007.
(Paper accepted, but weather delays prevented me from attending the conference.)
Monani, Salma. “Native Peoples and Nature: Documenting Changing Times.” Film and History, Dallas, TX. October 2006.
Monani, Salma. “Envisioning a Different Time and Place: Being Caribou and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge debate.” National Communication Association, San Antonio, TX. November 2006.
Monani, Salma. “The Indians: A Fictional Understanding of Immigrant Constructions of Place and Identity,” Northeast Modern Language Association, Philadelphia, PA. 2006.
Monani, Salma. “Time and Ideology in Congressional Hearings: Native Alaskan voices in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Debate.” Panel Chair. Out of Time: Theorizations in Cultural and Critical Practices, Minneapolis, MN. 2005.
Banker, Michael and Salma Monani. “Understanding Environment and The Day After Tomorrow: What Can Hollywood Teach Us about Environmental Communication,” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Eugene, OR. June, 2005.
Invited Talks
"Just Food? A Community Rethinks Sustainability." Preliminary research presentation to Adams County Food Policy Council. Gettysburg College. 29 September 2009.
Awards and Honors
Research and Professional Development Grant. Gettysburg College. To conduct summer research on the Adams County local food justice movement. 2009.
Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival Fellowship (FLEFF). 2008. To attend and participate in the 2008 festival events.
University of Minnesota Graduate School/Rhetoric Department Block Grant. 2006 and 2007
James I Brown Fellowship in Rhetoric. 2003-2004
First-year graduate fellowship at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Jovanovich Writing Award, Best Thesis. 2003
University of Colorado, Creative Writing-English Department (external judges)
Jovanovish Writing Award, Best Prose Manuscript. 2002.
University of Colorado, Creative Writing-English Department (external judges)
American Geological Institute (AGI) certificate. 2002
Awarded for successful completion of the Geotimes Magazine summer science writer's internship
Knoettge Award, CU English Dept. Writing Scholarship. 2000
First-year graduate fellowship at University of Colorado-Boulder
Geological Society of America (GSA) Outstanding Student Research Award. 1998.
Professional Development
Adult Filmmaking Workshop for Educators. International Wildlife Media Center and Film Festival (IWFF). Montana Film Academy. Summer 2009.
Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS) and Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) Conference participation. Penn State University. May 28-31, 2009.