SAR hosts award-winning anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis for a conversation-style salon. For nearly four decades, Davis has traveled the world to write, film, and photograph extensively, all in an effort to celebrate and honor the diversity of the world’s indigenous cultures and ecological environments. The conversation, led by SAR president, Michael F. Brown, is a special opportunity for SAR members to explore the history and wisdom of indigenous cultures with one of the world’s leading experts.
Davis holds degrees in anthropology and biology and received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. He is the author of fifteen books including: Passage of Darkness (1988), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1986), Voice for the Borneo Rain Forest (1990), Shadows in the Sun (1993), One River (1996), which was nominated for the 1997 Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction, The Lost Amazon (2004), Grand Canyon (2008) and The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (2009).
His subjects range from Haitian vodoun and Amazonian myth and religion to the global biodiversity crisis, the traditional use of psychotropic drugs, and the ethnobotany of South American Indians. Davis has written for National Geographic, Newsweek, Outside, Natural History, Scientific American, National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and numerous other international publications. His photographs appear in numerous books, magazines and journals.
Davis’s work in film is also prolific. He was the series creator, host, and co-writer of Light at the Edge of the World, a four-hour ethnographic documentary series, shot in Rapa Nui, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Nunuvut, Greenland, Nepal and Peru. The series aired in 165 countries on the National Geographic Channel and in the USA on the Smithsonian Network. He is a principal character in Grand Canyon Adventure, a 3D IMAX film, released by MacGillivray Freeman in 2008.
Through his work, Davis has brought the stories and histories of world-wide indigenous cultures to a broad public audience.
As Davis stated in a 2015 interview:
Cultures are not destined to fade away, as if by natural law. In every case, they are being driven out of existence by identifiable forces … [but] if human beings are the agents of destruction, we can also be the facilitators of cultural survival.
Participation in the salon is limited to 50 people and is open to SAR members. Advanced registration is required with priority given to Chaco level members and above. For more information or to RSVP for the salon call 505-954-7231 or email archuleta@sarsf.org.
If you would like to become an SAR member and receive free admission to lectures and other benefits, click here.
This salon is presented in conjunction with the Wade Davis lecture at the Lensic Performing Arts Center: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters. Learn more about the Lensic event here.
The Friday following the lecture, SAR hosts an informal salon discussion with Elizabeth Hoover. The salon is an opportunity for a conversation-style gathering with the speaker and provides a deeper exploration of the lecture topics. Participants will be sent a brief selection of readings prior to the event so that they can familiarize themselves with the speaker’s work.
Participation in the salons is limited to 25 people and is a free member benefit; advanced registration is required with priority given to Chaco level members and above. For more information or to RSVP for the salon call 505-954-7231 or email archuleta@sarsf.org.
If you would like to become an SAR member and receive free admission to lectures and other benefits, click here.
Learn more about SAR’s Creative Thought Forum here.
The Friday following the lecture, SAR hosts an informal salon discussion with New York Times best-selling author, Nicholas Carr. The salon is an opportunity for a conversation-style gathering with the speaker and provides a deeper exploration of the lecture topics. Participants will be sent a brief selection of readings prior to the event so that they can familiarize themselves with the speaker’s work.
Participation in the salons is limited to 25 people and is a free member benefit; advanced registration is required with priority given to Chaco level members and above. For more information or to RSVP for the salon call 505-954-7231 or email archuleta@sarsf.org.
If you would like to become an SAR member and receive free admission to lectures and other benefits, click here.
Learn more about SAR’s Creative Thought Forum here.