“Wondered at this Change”: Queer Potential and Telling Silence in the Relationship of Legolas and Gimli

Queer scholarship on The Lord of the Rings has frequently focused on J. R. R. Tolkien’s depiction of deep, intense male friendships. The tenderness of these relationships and Tolkien’s treatment of homosocial bonds - particularly in comparison to his depiction of heterosexual relationships - raises a question of deeper intimacy and queer potential that cannot be ignored. But in contrast to the relationship between Frodo and Sam, which is frequently explored in scholarly work (even if raised only to dismiss the possibility of queerness), the potential for a queer reading of Legolas and Gimli shows up as a glaring gap in Tolkien scholarship. In an effort to address this gap, I investigate the development of Legolas and Gimli’s relationship through a lens of queer theory, focusing on the contrast of their overt performance of affection with moments of privacy that shield the potential for intimacy from the reader’s view. I argue that Legolas and Gimli demonstrate affection for one another that challenges the normative bounds of friendship, transgressing expected boundaries of race and gender in their intimacy. At the same time, strategically-placed instances of privacy in their representation provide “plausible deniability” for scholars and fans who wish to ignore their queer potential. I reflect on these instances of privacy and other aspects of the text which provide a shield for scholars to ignore Legolas and Gimli’s potential, particularly in contrast to relationships such as Frodo and Sam. Finally, I point to the lack of exploration of this queer potential in existing Tolkien scholarship, offering my analysis to address the gap and indicating possible future avenues of scholarly exploration

Building Connection with Community Reads: Opening Up a Learning Community During Isolation and Beyond

Community Reads at the UW Bothell/Cascadia College Library is a program open to students, staff, and faculty across both our communities with the goal of facilitating conversation around topics of social justice and equity. We use a shared reading (a book, essay, or short story) that aligns with a greater theme as the basis of our programming, but build out from our reading in many different ways. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and more than a year of virtual learning, the team has focused on providing multiple creative entry points into our readings and discussions, prioritizing alternative ways of knowing and interacting with texts and ideas. To further this goal, we have cultivated a robust partnership with our library’s Digital Scholarship unit and utilized a variety of open pedagogy tools and projects. We created a virtual art gallery through a WordPress based SPLOT, a virtual anthology through a WordPress based TRU Writer, and a digital zine hosted in the open access space ResearchWorks. In all of these projects, we have emphasized creative engagement with our texts and themes and leveraged these tools to provide students and community members with an opportunity to publish their work on open platforms. In this presentation, we will discuss the unique challenges of promoting and educating about open pedagogy outside the classroom, emergent opportunities to engage with students across disciplines and perspectives through these projects, and what we have learned from working with digital scholarship and open pedagogy tools

Climate Justice for All: Climate Solutions Through an Equity Lens

POSTERS & CURATORS: Introduction - Climate Justice for All: Climate Solutions Through an Equity Lens [Kari Anderson] -- UN Climate Change Conference: COP at 26 [Kari Anderson] -- Climate Change and Indigenous Communities [Lynly Beard] -- Hot Cities: Climate Impacts on Communities of Color [Theresa Mudrock] -- Sikuvut Nunguliqtuq: Our Ice is Vanishing [Theresa Mudrock] -- “Nature’s Laboratory for Disaster” [Theresa Mudrock] -- Climate Change: Impact on Health [Carolyn Martin] -- Air Quality, Climate Change & Health: Identifying & Addressing Disparities [Diana Louden] -- Climate Grief: The Rising Tide of Eco-Anxiety [Kari Anderson] -- Climate Migration: In Search of a Habitable Home [Kari Anderson] -- Denial & Disinformation: How the Oil Industry Ignored the Science [Jessica Albano] -- Climate Coverage: How Norms & Bias Impact News [Jessica Albano] -- Editorial Cartoons: Perspectives on Climate Change [Calum Bryant] -- Beyond the Lorax: Children’s Books on the Environment [Theresa Mudrock] -- The Way Forward: Social & Political Solutions [Kari Anderson] -- The Way Forward: Science & Technology Solutions [Kari Anderson] -- Driven by Tribal Water Values: Strengthening Access to Sustainable Water in Partnership with the Akiak Native Community [Lynly Beard] -- Environmental Justice Programs: UWB/CC Community Reads [Hannah Mendro] -- Climate Justice & Sustainability: Student Groups at UW [Calum Bryant] -- What Will You Do to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? [Jessica Albano]Climate Justice for All: Climate Solutions Through an Equity Lens was a poster exhibit held in the lobby of Allen Library North from 22 November 2021 to 31 January 2022. The exhibit explored many aspects of the climate change issue, with a focus on how it relates to equity and social justice