This talk is part of a forthcoming book entitled, Medicines that Feed Us, in which Langwick examines the shifting, multiple relationships between toxicity and remedy in the face of the environmental and health crises shaping the 21stcentury. Broadly, she is interested in how that which counts as “therapeutic” is shifting with the growing acknowledgment that the extractive relations, which fuel contemporary economies and animate modern life, undermine possibilities for ongoing survival. In this seminar, Langwick thinks together with TRMEGA, a small vibrant NGO in northern Tanzania. TRMEGA’s plant(ing) remedies apprehend illness as an effect of long histories of dispossession, slow violence, and social-ecological abandonment. Herbal formulas intervene not only in depleted, suffering bodies but also in the affective and material relations that concretize people’s alienation from the forces of life. TRMEGA draws on traditional medicine, global herbalism, functional foods, agroecology, organic agriculture, and food sovereignty to cultivate forms of care that draw people closer to the soil and to each other. This work suggests a redefinition of the terms of health and healing. Lifestyle diseases are reimagined through what Langwick calls landstyles. Sharing seeds and cuttings, tending to compost, and building communities of multispecies support, are activities that together address the chronic injury and persistent vulnerability that shape the distribution of disease. Through the extension of their gardens, TRMEGA unsettles the boundaries between medicine and agriculture, redefines healing (as) land relations, and conceptualizes health as a quality of lushness in everyday life.

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In rural areas on the peri-urban fringe of rapidly expanding African cities, urbanization can be interpreted and conceived as an unwelcome change threatening traditional ways of life and personal and community cultural identity of rural areas with customary land tenure arrangements and generally ethnically homogenous populations. We examine the relationship between place attachment and residents’ perceptions of various aspects of urban life, using Moshi, Tanzania, located in a region long identified with the Chagga people, as a case study. We utilize a survey of approximately 700 respondents, stratified by location, and use principal component analysis to construct variables for place attachment, perceptions of cities, and perceived risks associated with urbanization. Utilizing stepwise regression techniques, we find that there was a significant decrease in levels of place attachment between rural, per-urban, and urban locations. We also find that residents who associate the city with more negative characteristics report higher levels of place attachment. This suggests that urbanization is perceived as a threat to people’s sense of place. Finally, we find that place attachment is positively associated with age, while being Chagga, owning land, and being native to the area are associated with greater levels of place attachment.

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The undergraduate minor in Latin American Studies spans across disciplines and allows you to explore the history, culture, government, politics, economy and languages of Latin America and the Caribbean. Qualifying courses can be found in many of the colleges.

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The Fulbright U.S. Student Program supports U.S. citizens to study, conduct research in any field, or teach English in more than 150 countries. Students who wish to begin the program immediately after graduation are encouraged to start the process in their junior year. Recent graduates are welcome to apply through Cornell.

The Fulbright program at Cornell is administered by the Einaudi Center for International studies. Applicants are supported through all stages of the application and are encouraged to start early by contacting fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

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The Amit Bhatia ’01 Global PhD Research Awards fund international fieldwork to help Cornell students complete their dissertations. Through a generous gift from Amit Bhatia, this funding opportunity annually supports at least six PhD students who have passed the A exam. Recipients hold the title of Amit Bhatia ’01 Global PhD Research Scholars. All disciplines and research topics are welcome. The award provides $10,000 to be used by the end of the sixth PhD year for international travel, living expenses, and research expenses. Applications are due March 7, 2025.

The Einaudi Dissertation Proposal Development Program supports 12 students over the course of a year to participate in seminars, workshops, and mentoring sessions and receive up to $5,000 for summer research. Applicants’ research projects must focus on global issues, but the proposed research setting may be international or domestic. In addition to six weeks of summer research, the program includes community-building and mentoring events. Applications are due by March 2, 2025.

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