Dr. Carolyn Finney will give the 2018 Rubenstein School Commencement address on Sunday, May 20 at the University of Vermont. Dr. Finney is a storyteller, author, and cultural geographer. A professor at the University of Kentucky, she is deeply interested in issues related to identity, difference, creativity, and resilience. In particular, she explores how issues of difference impact participation in environmental decision-making processes.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Carolyn Finney deliver the Rubenstein School Commencement address this year,” said Nancy Mathews, Dean of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. “Dr. Finney is an internationally renowned scholar on environmental justice and equity issues. Her expertise will inspire graduates to reflect on ideas and themes fundamental to the Rubenstein School and to all environmental professions.”
Dr. Finney is grounded in both artistic and intellectual ways of knowing. Prior to her academic career, she pursued acting for eleven years until a backpacking trip around the world and living in Nepal changed the course of her life. Motivated by these experiences, she returned to school after a 15-year hiatus to earn a B.A. and M.A. while studying gender and environmental issues in Kenya and Nepal. For her Ph.D., she conducted research on African Americans and environmental issues in the U.S.
The aim of her work is to develop greater cultural competency within environmental organizations and institutions, challenge media outlets on their representation of difference, and increase awareness of how privilege shapes who gets to speak to environmental issues and determine policy and action. Along with public speaking, writing, and consulting, she recently served for eight years on the U.S. National Parks Advisory Board that assists the National Park Service in engaging in relations of reciprocity with diverse communities.
She is part of the Next 100 Coalition, a first-of-its-kind coalition of civil rights, environmental justice, conservation, and community leaders from around the country. The group developed a vision statement and policy document on diversity and public lands for the Obama Administration with the intention of having President Obama issue a Presidential Memorandum.
Her first book, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors was published in 2014. Dr. Finney has appeared on the Tavis Smiley show and MSNBC. She has been interviewed on National Public Radio and by the Sierra Club and The Boston Globe and has written Op-Eds for Newsweek and Outside Magazine.
She is currently writing a new book that explores identity, race, lived experience, and the construction of a black environmental imaginary and creating a performance piece about John Muir, among other works. She is leaving her position at the University of Kentucky as of June 2018 to devote her full time to these new projects.