River Systems and Their Communities

Event details
When

Thursday, April 17, 2025 from 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Where
International Studies Reading Room
Hatcher Library North, First Floor, Room 110
View floor plan
Event typeReception/Open House
SeriesThird Thursdays at the Library

On this Third Thursday of Earth Month, come explore river systems around the world and the communities that have developed alongside them. Through materials in the International Studies Collection, learn about issues faced by both the people and the rivers themselves, and the efforts to keep them thriving.

Water touches many aspects of our lives. From the visible (nourishing our bodies, cleaning our clothes and dishes) to the less visible (creating electricity and cooling our homes and information systems), fresh water is an integral part of the living experience on Earth.

This dependence has long led communities to develop on the banks of rivers, but the relationship is not always a smooth one. As much as rivers have influenced culture and religion, they have also been sites of destruction as industrial appetites have increased. 

Join us for Third Thursdays at the Library, a themed monthly open house where we share materials from our collections.

While you’re here, pick up a Third Thursday Passport and collect a stamp from each of the three Third Thursday Open Houses — the Clark Library, International Studies, and the Special Collections Research Center — to win a prize!

Silhouette of a person with a long oar in the water, standing on a small boat in a marsh, with the water and sky tinted orange.

“Night at the southern marshes of Iraq,” From Southern Iraq's marshes : their environment and conservation, edited by Laith A. Jawad, 2021.

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Mary Christine Lawrence · lawrenm@umich.edu

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