Sprawling!: Grappling with the Environmental Legacies of America's Suburbs

Join Dr. William Bryan, an award-winning environmental historian, author, and educator, for a discussion on the complex legacies of America's suburban landscape.

Since the 1940s, America's landscape has been steadily suburbanized. Suburbs may have started as an effort by wealthy Americans to carve out living space outside the central city, but by the second half of the twentieth century, they had become ubiquitous. After 1940, the share of Americans living in suburbs exploded, so that by 2000 every other person in the country was a suburbanite.

America's suburbs have had an enormous environmental impact, not just in transforming millions of acres of land but also in introducing more people to natural landscapes, raising environmental awareness, and fueling environmental regulation and sustainable development practices. By telling the story of American environmental policymaking through the lens of the suburb, this lecture will unearth the complex legacies of America's suburban landscapes.

About Cuyahoga Valley Lyceum Series
This season the Cuyahoga Valley Lyceum Series is bringing experts on history as well as current trends to Cuyahoga Valley National Park to share in-depth and engaging stories and discoveries commemorating the park's 50th anniversary.

WHAT TO EXPECT

6:30 PM: Doors Open

7:00 PM: Presentation

8:00 PM: Event Ends

TICKETS
Two ways to participate, in person or via a live stream.

Conservancy Members: $10 | General Admission: $15
Students/Teachers: Free (limited tickets available)
Live Stream Participation: Free

Dr. William Bryan is an award-winning environmental historian, author, and educator located in Atlanta, Georgia. He currently serves as the Director of Research at the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA), a 501c(3) research and policy nonprofit, where he leads a research team focused on advancing equitable energy and climate policies through cutting-edge research, geospatial analyses, and storytelling.

Dr. Bryan earned a Ph.D. from Penn State University, and his research and writing explore sustainable development in the United States. He is the author of a book about the origins of sustainability in the South, entitled The Price of Permanence: Nature and Business in the New South (University of Georgia Press, 2018), which is based on his award-winning dissertation. His research and writing have also appeared in popular and peer-reviewed venues ranging from The Washington Post and Saporta Report to Southern Cultures and The New England Quarterly. Dr. Bryan is completing his second book on the origins of sustainable planned communities, which is under contract with the University of North Carolina Press.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Happy Days Lodge, 500 West Streetsboro Street, Peninsula, United States