Lesson 1: Animism and Microbial Life
learning outcomes
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
Understand the structure of the course/lessons and how they will be presented
Define the following: animism, practical animism, microbiology, prokaryote, eukaryote
Understand the general importance of ritual
Describe the explosive nature of bacterial growth and how that relates to life on earth
Start an initial conceptualization of the ineffable world of the smalls
Begin to conceptualize the personhood of the smalls
Start to frame scientific research as a driver of the development of new world views, which can be combined with/contested by an animist perspective
Describe how the smalls are inherently divine
additional resources
Additional resources are posted here for your general interest - the following aren’t integral to the learning but may be supportive. They include music, articles, interviews, writing, and primary scientific literature which you may (or may not) find interesting.
recommended viewing
recommended books
The Hummingbird’s Daughter – Luis Alberto Urrea (animism)
Mycelium Running – Paul Stamets (mycology)
Wisdom Sits in Places – Keith H. Basso (animism)
Braiding Sweetgrass – Robin Wall Kimmerer (science and animism)
Animism: Respecting the Living World – Graham Harvey (animism)
Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution – Lynn Margulis, Dorian Sagan (science)
Symbiotic Planet – Lynn Margulis (science)
I Contain Multitudes – Ed Yong (microbiome)
articles and scientific papers
Other Species are Essential Workers
Human Genetics Shape the Gut Microbiome
Microbial ecologists: it’s time to ‘go large’ (by Tom Curtis, featuring the ‘blue whale chokes on a giant panda’ quote)