Writing on the Landscape: The Book Experienced

Writing on the Landscape: The Book Experienced

Author: Dr. Jennifer J. Wilhoit

Opens for Registration:  Ongoing

Course Length: Five weeks online, with new lessons delivered weekly

Fee: $ 50. USD

Refund Policy:   For six days after payment, 50% refund. No refunds thereafter.

You might be interested in taking this course if:

• You want to write, but somehow never seem to get around to it.
• You want to develop practices that can help you get to the writing page.
• You love the natural world and want to express that via the written word.
• You want practical tools for creating and being compassionate with yourself.
• You want to hone nature-based and writing practices you can use in any situation.
• You want to explore how writing deeply can enhance your life.
• You want to understand how an engaged experience of the natural world can invigorate your writing.
• You enjoy new experiences and want to learn through doing.
• You are interested in an ongoing set of writing practices and earth-based practices that you can use long after the course ends.
• You've read Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew and want a guided experience of the book.

 Some comments about the book include: 

“I have begun to read your lovely book. Already you remind me—in tone, perspective, word choice, and convictions—of one of my favorite Southern writers, Eudora Welty.” (Dr. H. Bruce Rinker, Author, Ecologist, Explorer, Educator)

“Writing on the Landscape touches my mind, heart, body, and spirit. My own thinking, writing, and nature-fueled philosophy of life resonate with Dr. Wilhoit’s entertaining and inspirational guide to writing and nature. Dr. Wilhoit narrates a journey, demonstrating how vital balance is in our pursuit of writing, as well as in our pursuit of life. And she evidences convincingly that we can achieve wholeness through conscious, reflective, and introspective immersion in nature. Dr. Wilhoit observes simply that the principal point of this book is the pairing of nature and writing toward being complete." (Stephen B. Jones, PhD Author, Co-Founder of Antioch’s Nature Based Leadership Institute; Founder of Great Blue Heron, LLC)  

"... Read this brilliant book ... Whether you're an aspiring writer or an established pro, Writing on the Landscape is a stunning read, offering new riches on every page. The author, Jennifer Wilhoit, is a skilled writer … [and] a devoted child of nature as well. Nature permeates this work, and Jennifer shows you how to use the natural world to access those voices inside and outside of you that you may have forgotten or never known existed. The book contains many helpful exercises, but what sticks with me most is Jennifer's passion. She loves being a writer and she wants you to love being one, too. It's entirely contagious. I highly recommend Writing on the Landscape to you.” (Burt J. Kempner, Award-Winning Writer-Producer)

"Oh, what inspiring writing by Jennifer J. Wilhoit! As I read Writing on the Landscape, her words sparked my yearning to reach for my journal and pen to write. Her descriptions of nature are, hands down, some of the most poetic prose I have read." (Lisa D. McCall, Author, Public Health Researcher, Life Coach)

"[This is] a great book for laypersons, students and writers. The author, Jennifer Wilhoit is a colleague and friend that promotes transformative learning and embodiment in a way that is complementary to transformative and liberation pedagogies. I have thoroughly enjoyed it cover to cover; it is theoretically sound and filled with practical activities that engage presentational and propositional ways of knowing." (Donald Proby, Mediator, Peacebuilder, EdD Candidate) 

Course Detail

Week One:  Welcome, Getting Started, and Writing and Ecology 

Week Two:  Our Body and the Landscape of Forested Earth

Week Three:  Our Emotions and the Landscape of Ocean Waters

Week Four:  Our Mind and the Landscape of Mountaintop Air

Week Five: Our Spirit and the Landscape of Desert Sun; Tying Up Loose Ends

How the Course Works

• You must purchase a copy of the book, Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew. This is the primary text for the course, and without the book you will not have the fundamental tool and foundation for each lesson. 

To order the book from the publisher,  click this link:  e-book version. 

You may also purchase the book (hardcover and paperback) through your local independent bookseller, on Amazon, IndieBound, Kobo, or contact me for additional information. 

• The six lessons of Writing on the Landscape: The Book Experienced are completely online. 
• As long as a student has an Internet connection and has registered for the course, s/he can log in and complete lessons week by week.
• It would benefit each student to have paper and pens ready for each lesson, to have an easy-to-access outdoor space to practice the nature-based activities, and to bring to the course a big-hearted willingness to explore multiple modes of expression.

Included in the course are:

• Access to that week’s lesson and activities 24-hours a day.
• Access to all prior lessons for review or re-engagement.
• Six lessons comprised of dozens of activities.
• Exercises, prompts, and practices that students are encouraged to use on a daily or weekly basis indefinitely in order to deepen and enhance their writing life, and their life in general.
• Opportunities for reflection.
• Feedback from a seasoned writer and "story & nature" guide.

Benefits of the Course

• Gentle concepts
• Tangible ways to engage writing
• Tangible ways to engage nature
• Multidisciplinary approaches to content
• “Start where you are” practices with modifications for gentler or deeper experiences
• Greater emphasis on fluidity, process, moving deeper
• Opportunities to challenge oneself
• Opportunities to engage creatively

Faculty Bio

Jennifer J. Wilhoit, PhD is a published author, spiritual ecologist, research scholar, editor, writing mentor, hospice/bereavement volunteer, life and nature guide, consultant, and peacemaker. She has designed, implemented, and taught interdisciplinary curricula in a variety of subjects for all levels including graduate (MA and PhD) courses. Her books, articles, and blogs focus on the human/nature relationship - what she calls “the inner/outer landscape.” Her most recent books include Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew (2017) and Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019, co-authored with Stephen B. Jones, Ph.D.). She founded TEALarbor stories through which she compassionately mentors writers, facilitates story & nature guiding experiences, mentors creatives, supports people in life transition, consults, & mediates conflicts. In addition to her one-on-one work with clients, Jennifer also offers presentations, workshops, courses, and retreats. When she is not writing or working, she spends time hiking and making beauty in natural landscapes, reading, traveling (internationally, as often as possible), and dabbling in creative arts. Jennifer’s soul thrives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest landscape where she lives. 

Bio Sketch

Education

PhD:  Environmental Studies (Crafts Coops & Protected Areas)

MA:  Education (Intercultural, Environmental Group Learning)

BA: Liberal Arts (Ecology & Spirituality, Special Education, Spanish)

Work

Founder/Private Practice; Spiritual Ecologist; Published Author; Peacemaker

Relevant Experience

Mentor, Editor, Consultant, Faculty, Environmental Researcher, Speaker, Conflict Coach/Support, Inner/Outer Landscape Guide, Wilderness Guide Assistant

Passions

Writing & Reading, Ecology, Arts & Creativity, Compassion, Community Service, Hospice, Photography, Spirituality, Travel