Associate Professor
Religion and Nature, Hinduism, North Indian Devotional Traditions
Email: wsanford@ufl.edu
Phone: 352-392-1625
Relevant Past Projects:
Being the Change: Food, Community, and Sustainability. (Forthcoming, University Press of Kentucky, 2017).
Growing Stories: Religion and the Fate of Agriculture. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2011.
Current Projects:
“River of Life, River of Dreams: Springs, Fish Camps, and Old Florida Environmentalism along the St. Johns River”
River of Life, River of Dreams, a My historical and ethnographic study of the north-flowing St. Johns River and its ecoheritage environs, explores the complicated relationships between peoples and their places and the multiple diverse ways in whichthat people express their care for these their places. Through site visits at springsVisiting and sites and communities along the river, I will learn explore how different populations groups understand, articulate, and, sometimes, deny environmental concerns. My study of the St. Johns ecoheritage will help us understand. This project will help us understand differing attitudes toward climate change and sea-level rise, a pressing concerns for Florida and the coastal U.S.
“Wish You Were Here” A Collaboration between UF, UCF, and the Florida State parks (http://religion.ufl.edu/links/wish-you-were-here-florida-state-parks-project/)
The Florida Division of Recreation & Parks (DRP) is collaborating with the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida on the “Wish You Were Here” project, a self-directed cultural trail for visitors to explore the rich cultural heritage of seven Florida state parks (Wakulla Springs State Park; Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings SHP; Homosassa Springs; Silver Springs; Rainbow Springs; Weekee Wachee; and DeLeon Springs). The objective is to explore Florida’s roadside attractions located along pre-interstate roads before the 1970s, when Disneyworld and the interstate system transformed Florida’s tourism focus. Some of Florida’s most popular former attractions were based around large springs and are now some of today’s most beloved state parks. View the District Presentation on the Historic Parks Project here.
Grant Experience:
2015 Rothman Summer Faculty Fellowship
2012 “Being the Change: What Gandhi has Taught Contemporary Intentional Communities about Food, Non-Violence, and Social Justice”, Faculty Enhancement Opportunity
2012 Summer Faculty Travel Grant, CLAS, University of Florida