The University of Oregon’s Center for Environmental Futures is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the Understories Writers’ Workshop in the Environmental Humanities, a program that began in 2019. The purpose of this weeklong writing workshop/retreat is to encourage those writing in the environmental humanities to develop their scholarly work using the techniques of literary nonfiction to engage broader public audiences. Understories will entail daily time devoted to solo writing, as well as daily group workshops and field activities. Each year, a prominent writer is selected to lead the workshop; in 2026, we are thrilled to welcome Ashley Dawson, Distinguished Prof. of English at the CUNY Graduate Center (fuller bio below).
The workshop will take place in person July 12–19, 2026 (arrival on July 12, departure on July 19) at Menucha Retreat and Conference Center set in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, just outside of Portland, Oregon. Accommodations include shared sleeping rooms (two participants per room), and meals will include vegetarian and vegan options, if desired.
The workshop is limited to 12 participants, with a balance of writers from the University of Oregon and beyond the UO community. Eligibility is restricted to faculty, PhD students, and independent scholars in the environmental humanities and allied fields (e.g., ecological approaches to literature, gender, religion, politics, philosophy, the arts, and/or race; animal studies; Indigenous studies; environmental justice; environmental history; cultural geography; anthropology; sociology). Both aspiring and accomplished non-fiction writers who want to learn a more literary narrative style to engage a wider public audience are encouraged to apply.
The workshop, lodging, meals, and transportation (via shared vehicle) are free of cost to UO faculty and graduate students. Those selected from outside the UO community will receive a stipend of up to $500 to offset travel costs to Menucha Retreat and Conference Center, with no charge for the workshop, lodging, or meals.
Applicants should send a1-page letter that explains why they would benefit from this workshop and briefly describes the writing project on which they intend to work, along with a CV and writing sample to ASU3 at asu3@uoregon.edu by February 13, 2026. Successful applicants will be notified by end of March 2026.
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Ashley Dawson, Distinguished Professor of Postcolonial Studies in the English Department at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), and at the College of Staten Island (CUNY), is an author, scholar, and activist. He has written five books, including:
Environmentalism From Below: How Global People’s Movements Are Leading the Fight for Our Planet (Haymarket, 2024), People’s Power: Reclaiming the Energy Commons (O/R, 2020), Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change (Verso, 2017) and Extinction: A Radical History (O/R, 2016), and edited several others. He is also committed to public-facing, short-form writing and has published articles in newspapers and magazines such as The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vice Magazine, and Jacobin.
