David Zurick

Wednesday, October 17, 2018
"A Fantastic State of Ruin: The Painted Towns of Rajasthan”
Special Event for Homecoming Week 2018

David Zurick is Foundation Professor of Geography at Eastern Kentucky University, an Adjunct Graduate Faculty Member at the University of Kentucky, a world traveler, photographer and the author of over a dozen books, including most recently the 2018 Nautilus Silver Award Winning Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond and A Fantastic State of Ruin: The Painted Towns of Rajasthan, which forms the basis for his Chautauqua presentation. (See book intro video here.) The Nautilus Awards are an annual accolade for books in the genre of social and environmental justice. Past winners include The Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Barbara Kingsolver and Thich Nhat Hanh. In addition to the Nautilus, Zurick’s books and photography have won numerous other awards, including the National Outdoor Book Award and Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Visual Artist Fellowship Award (twice). In 2009 he received the “Mt Everest Award” for his lifetime achievement in Himalaya studies. He is a Fellow of The Explorers Club, was the EKU College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Roark Lecturer in 2011 and was a Featured Artist of the Kentucky Arts Council in 2015.

In 2006, David produced the acclaimed Illustrated Atlas of the Himalaya. In 2011 his ten-year photographic study of the American South was published in the book, Southern Crossings: Where Geography and Photography Meet. And in 2014 he completed a ten-year series of photographs about sacred places in Tibet and the Himalaya, which are published in his book, Land of Pure Vision. For several years he lived in Polynesia, where he made images for his project Oceanic Coordinates: Rising Seas, Losing Paradise. In 2014 David began a series of color photographs in India called Painted Towns. David’s documentary film, Crossing Sacred Ground, was completed in 2017 and is making its way through the festival circuit. 

After earning his B.A and M.A. at Michigan State, Zurick went on to complete his PhD in Geography in 1986 from the University of Hawaii and the East-West Center, Honolulu, and he began teaching at EKU the following year. Dr. Zurick is set to retire after this semester, although he will continue his travels, photography, writing and research.

Sponsored by the Department of Geosciences, the Department of Art and Design, the Office of Alumni Relations and the Honors Program

Sources:
http://www.davidzurick.com/
http://stories.eku.edu/people/professor-wins-prestigious-nautilus-award
https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Coffee-Goldfish-Pond-Seeing/dp/1947067028
https://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-State-Ruin-Painted-Rajasthan/dp/1940743400
http://www.kyforward.com/eastern-kentucky-university-professor-david-zurick-wins-2017-nautilus-award-for-lyrical-prose/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMjnu9MWQ1c&app=desktop

Published on October 17, 2018