What did the Penikese Island experience mean to each of us?

This section features student reflections on their transformative experiences during the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island trip. Students share how engaging with the land, working together, and living in community deepened their understanding of course concepts like “Land as Pedagogy” and the interconnectedness of knowledge, care, and reciprocity. Their reflections highlight the unique ways the island and its rhythms served as both a setting and a teacher, fostering personal growth, academic insight, and a renewed connection to place and community.

Ava Feliz-Sutter: Knowledge, Care, and Mutual Reciprocity: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

In all honesty, I was initially skeptical about how spending four days on a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts, in collaboration with a liberal arts program, would deepen my understanding of Indigenous religions and cosmologies. However, after spending just one day cooking for my classmates, reflecting on our morning seminar over a kerosene-lamp-lit dinner, and conversing beneath a star-strewn sky, I immediately grasped the connection.

The different modes of learning we had studied throughout the semester were no longer abstract concepts; they had become tangible, lived experiences. As I uprooted dead weeds and cleared space in the garden for future growth, I engaged in the type of hands-on, bodily interaction with the land that underpins so many Indigenous cultures’ relationships to nature. Cleaning the shoreline as though it were my own home, I began to understand the intimate connection between physical labor and care that Elizabeth Povinelli and Richard White explore in their articles.

I discerned glimpses of Leanne Simpson’s “Land as Pedagogy” in the new plants I discovered while gardening and the rare bird nests I encountered while wandering around the island. I understood what she meant when she described knowledge as “a compassionate web of interdependent relationships” (Simpson 159). I felt it in the gentle breeze against my skin and the soft grass beneath my feet as my classmates and I shared our personal memories and profound thoughts. Rather than merely reading about how knowledge should be intimate, synergistic, and mutually reciprocal, I felt it each time I learned from the insightful words of my peers or the serene nature around me and witnessed firsthand their inextricable link.

I understood why gifts and communal care weave the social framework of so many Indigenous cultures; mutual care formed the foundation that made our experiences on the island so profound. Our time on Penikese Island was not merely an academic exercise but a lived embodiment of the principles we had studied. The island and the course exist in an interdependent, synergistic relationship themselves. In the spirit of mutual reciprocity, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone and everything who made this extraordinary relationship and unforgettable experience possible.

Miles Miller: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

In complete honesty, in the weeks before this experience I was not optimistic about what I could possibly gain from this experience. While I was excited to leave campus and try something new, I didn’t totally understand how a long weekend on Penikese would help me connect further with the themes we explore in this course. Many of the readings, even while sometimes anecdotal, address some abstract ideas that I did not feel as if I would get to experience myself due to my own background and foundation of beliefs. However, I am so happy to say I could not have been more wrong. 

The primary area I felt I was able to implement some of the frameworks from the course was in discussions and individual reflections of the history of Penikese Island. There were so many clear moments of connection to the history of the island in our own activities, which is where I found myself starting to view Penikese as an animate landscape. From the memorial historical markers presented intellectually in seminar and from those still physically preserved on the island, I was constantly reminded of the ways in which the author’s we’ve read connect natural phenomena with humanistic action and relationships. By exploring the island and participating in its labor, I felt to some extent I was doing the same thing. 

There were some moments during the trip where my level of comfort was challenged, but during even moments of unconformity I felt I was being involved in a space where I was able to create an animate relationship with a place. Through the three pillars that are at the Gull Institutes core (labor, self governance, and academics), I felt that I was able to put a lot of the frameworks regarding building relationships, or thinking more of a landscape/the natural world, to practice. Each of these areas gave me a chance to actually insert myself into the narrative of Penikese, while also giving me the opportunity to continue an experience that has reincarnated in the many different forms that life on the island has taken. 

A true reflection of this experience cannot be complete without addressing the social aspect of the trip. While still being in an academic setting, I do think I was able to flow into a more open space of sharing ideas than I usually would in a normal classroom. This stemmed from the more intimate settings we constantly were in outside of the classroom. From cooking, cleaning, and working together I feel I was able to shed the student identity a little bit which allowed me to open myself more to the experience. 

A question we discussed a lot on the island was what does it mean to live in a place meaningfully. While I could not give you an exact answer at this moment, I do know that if I were to pursue a project that could answer this question, I would be able to use the contents of this course to help formulate an answer. I do hope that future iterations of this course are able to have in-depth and concrete experiences such as this where students are able to critically apply what they learn at Wesleyan to the greater world. 

Al Shterenberg: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

I held absolutely zero expectations for this trip to Penikese Island. Even when reviewing the itinerary sheet the week before our first day of travel, I had no idea what to expect even as we stepped foot onto Penikese Island. Traveling to a small, remote island with a small group of practically strangers was a completely unique, and honestly odd, experience to mentally prepare for. Truly, the only preconceived notion of how this trip could go was a worst-case scenario where the plot of the film Glass Onion unfolded in front of me. With this seeming highly unlikely, I was walking onto this trip with a completely open mind, ready for new experiences.

The four days spent on Penikese fostered an academic setting unlike anything I had ever experienced. Sharing daily labor tasks and meals gave space for new connections to blossom between everyone on the trip. Spending our entire day side-by-side with each other allowed for abundant conversation. We spent countless hours getting to know each other personally and academically; all whilst cooking meals for our community, pulling weeds in the garden, and laying outside stargazing in the middle of the night. The unique bond we were rapidly strengthening with each other made our seminars much more open and insightful. Losing some of our personal formalities made our academic discussions extremely powerful, as we migrated from being classmates to friends. 

The emotional bonds we shared were further heightened by the beautiful scenery around us. When you stepped outside of the Island’s main house, you were greeted by gentle ocean waves and a light breeze. The quiet calmness of the Island nutured a sense of tranquility, making new social connection much less anxiety-inducing. The topics we discussed in seminars, the peaceful conversations we shared over home cooked meals, and the sweat we communally shed during labor tasks made the trip to Penikese Island special and truly unforgettable.

Beatrix Briggs: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

The trip to Penikese Island was a really incredible experience. Stepping away from usual places and routines, it felt like time slowed down, and it was possible to think and relate to people in new and refreshing ways. Waking up each morning to the sun as it rose, to birds outside my window, and quietly going about the beginning of the day made for a really special tone for the day. The slow rise in everyone’s activity and energy, whether cooking as part of the breakfast crew or settling on an armchair to read or quietly play music before everyone had gathered, created a steady and interesting feeling of potential. 

Free from my phone and laptop for most of the day, I spent any empty stretch of time sitting outside to draw or going for a walk around the island. The threads of the day felt strongly woven together and continuous – I felt suddenly aware of how fragmented my usual days can become as I get absorbed in work and time online between other activities. I felt a curious wish to get to know the landscape, to see where we might connect, and images of the hilly island – its grasses, rocks, and little trees – remain persistently in my mind. 

The various labor tasks created a rich sense of care among the humans and non-humans of the place. Our bond as a group was really wonderful – it tied every element of the trip together and made it all so much richer. In conversations we processed and thought through the events of the previous day(s), and it was striking every time to see the new light thrown on those experiences by others’ perspectives. I gained a lot of clarity on how it might be possible to relate to academic work differently, with a greater sense of transparency between that work and my personal life and emotions. 

Sometimes the feeling of easy communication among the students made me resistant to the more structured format of our nightly self-governance meetings. I found the slow pace at which we had to resolve issues frustrating at times, but working through that frustration to reach results that were satisfying to the group felt like an important and rewarding use of our time. Afterwards, the time to unwind and play bananagrams by the kerosene lamps or stargaze, also helped ease the role of that self governance in our days. As the only living beings larger than rabbits staying on the island, it felt safe even to wander at night when the moon shone brightly enough to light our way, and that experience of the calm, open outdoors at night was magical.

By the time we left the island, I noticed that I was thinking more clearly than I had been at the start. I felt self-aware, reflective, but happy to be in the moment. There is so much that I learned on this trip which I want to use to broaden my life at home, now and in the future. 

Natalie Piergrossi: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

In the weeks leading up to our time on Penikese Island, I found myself dreading the trip as an extension of the stress of college classes. All of my friends would be going home to their families for a much-needed period of rest, and I would be spending a few days on an unfamiliar island with mostly unfamiliar people, having various new responsibilities to learn and fulfill. However, after the first step from the dock onto the boat with Buzzards Bay stretched out in front of me, I quickly realized that this trip would be exactly the kind of recharging I needed. The three nights that our class spent on Penikese Island brought us closer to each other and the concepts we had been learning together. It was the first time I truly understood the value of incorporating the teachings of the place into the educational framework; it makes everything seem more meaningful and relevant. The question that guided us during our trip, how to inhabit a place well, has stuck with me since returning to Wesleyan, and will continue to, in every classroom I step into.

Brooks Olson: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

My experience on Penikese Island was a unique and refreshing retreat from the fast paced individualistic lifestyle of college. The island itself was beautiful, with the ocean visible from almost anywhere on the island. The constant sound of waves crashing and receding into the sea proved to be a better alternative to the constant sound of the highway that can be heard from anywhere at our school. The size and pleasant geography of the island influenced the way we all interacted. The small size of the island brought us closer together. This enhanced sense of community struck me the most deeply out of anything I experienced on the island.

While we had spent time together in class, none of us knew each other very well going into this trip. By bedtime on the first night the ice was broken, and several of us stayed up talking about our lives and shared experiences. This became a nightly routine, transforming a group of individuals into a community by the end of the trip. This sense of community was enhanced and in some ways created by our cooking for each other and working with each other. All the energy that was given during this trip fed back into our group. Solid experience, would recommend.

Maddie Soltis: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

Going into this experience, my biggest goal was to approach as much of my time on Penikese with an open mind–to let any experiences, emotions, and connections that came up wash over me. To observe, to listen, and to sit with any unfolding experiences that arose. I had no idea what to expect from the four days I would spend on Penikese Island with people I had yet to come to know. But in a way, I found comfort in approaching the experience with no expectations—the absence of expectations left space for endless possibilities to emerge. 

What I found among these endless possibilities was balance. Gull Island Institute’s core pillars of labor, self-governance, and seminar established a strong foundation for me to deeply and meaningfully connect and engage with my peers, the seminar material, and the land. Whether it was waking up at dawn to cook pancakes as part of the meal crew, spending time in the schoolhouse during seminar, or pulling weeds from the garden, each day wove the three pillars together in a way that provided me with the spaces to gain different forms of knowledge in different ways–engaging both my mind and my body in coming to know the land and the people I shared it with. Penikese Island–with its grassy hills, waves crashing against the shore, and deeply complex history–became something of a teacher, echoing sentiments from Leanne Simpson’s “Land as Pedagogy.” I found myself most firmly grounded in the island’s rhythms through labor; with my feet on the ground and my hands in the dirt, our seminar conversations and classroom discussions started to make sense. By tending to the land through the pruning of poplar trees or cleaning the coast, the island encouraged me to open up to my peers, allowing me to find deep meaning in our open and honest conversations. In taking the time to sit and watch the moon rise without any distractions, I remembered what it felt like to be fully present. 

As I opened up to the land, I found myself opening up to the process and embracing the lessons that I could learn from the land and my peers. I found myself speaking up more, sharing my ideas with greater confidence, and pushing myself beyond my comfort zone. During our trip, the question of “what it means to inhabit a place well” came up frequently. At the time, I wasn’t sure how to begin answering that question, and in some ways, I still don’t. While there may not be one definitive answer, and inhabiting a place well might mean something different to each person, I believe that I began to understand what it means to inhabit a place well during our time on Penikese. The sense of community we fostered, the emotions we shared, and the discussions we had will stay with me long after this experience.

Preston Crawford: Reflection on the “Animate Landscapes” Penikese Island Experience

I’m certain of one thing: my memory of this trip will never adequately represent the sheer volume and variety of thoughts and emotions I experienced. For weeks I anticipated and visually imagined a very specific experience. To an extent I was correct, but only scratched the surface and never predicted the effect that the actual setting would produce. Shimmering waves in the autumn sun spanned the surrounding miles. A line of treeless islands jutted up along the nearby Massachusetts coast. Penikese, at the end of it, felt perfectly situated in the mouth between mainland and Martha’s Vineyard. Everyone was conscious of the coastline, and I think that awareness bore some significance; if we had no sight of civilization, a crucial aspect of our journey wouldn’t have been present— the rehabilitative power of being just far enough away from society to where we lacked the mindset, but close enough to where we could witness the beauty of humanity’s existence from afar.

The island itself contained numerous liminal qualities that brought to mind a collection of disparate memories and nostalgic pathways that I hadn’t recalled in over a decade in some cases. My own extensive history with the New England coastal aesthetic, combined with my new knowledge of the history of the island, quickly bonded me to the landscape. The remnants of former structures, grass fields, and clear views across the entire landscape (permitted by the very obvious lack of trees) catalyzed an unsettling understanding of time’s passage. I couldn’t help but place myself in every time period since the landmass formed, trying to bridge the gap between my skewed perception of the past and the visceral immediacy of my present consciousness. 

And I knew my peers were experiencing something similar. It was partially hidden in everyone’s countenance and emerged through the surprisingly comfortable, deep conversations we were compelled to engage in. Late at night, when a lone kerosene lamp still burned in the living room, we laid out a small portion of our souls, either on our backs outside or in the lingering warmth of the wood stove. For three days, our subconscious grip on the web of societal pressures loosened, and our dormant existential energy was unleashed. Self-governance meetings and chores, however frustrating at times, never felt forced. We were genuine in every action and (although it sounds cliched) came to view our finite time on Penikese as parallel to our finite lives. I only hope I can semi-regularly recreate the experience over the course of my life.