Mission Statement:

Watershed is Brown University’s undergraduate-produced journal of the environment and culture, published biannually since 2004.

In Brief:

Watershed is Brown's journal of the environment and culture. Our experience is not of a verdant dale, or a fecund jungle, but of public parks and parking lots. We find a wilderness in the rivers that run through our cities, in the trees that line our streets. Our nature is not the unmitigated nature of museums or magazines. Ours is a nature known in the midst of people. Given this experience, Watershed collects critical, artistic and literary productions that respond to the question: "What is the natural?"

Watershed Web differs from its parent publication Watershed in its focus on issues relevant to the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island. Maintaining Watershed's concern for our interactions with our environment, and yet unbound by the restraints of the print medium, Watershed Web diversifies our offerings. We plan to update our site regularly with news, editorials, multimedia presentations, calendars of local events, and message boards for discussion. We hope that our site might become a nexus for information relevant to the environment of Providence, and a showcase for the talents of the Brown and RISD communities.

Our Question:

What is the natural? The myriad responses to this question form the substance of our journal. By engaging artistic and critical modes of expression, Watershed hopes to provide a forum for encouraging and exploring the dynamic meanings of what, in this modern world, is "natural." Where do we find it? How do we interact with it? What do we do with it? Valuing ecological, cultural, political and artistic diversity, Watershed fosters an open and spirited dialogue, unbound by the pressures of political and cultural conformity.

Our Spirit:

Our vision is new and bold; no other publication, regionally or nationally, attempts to position itself as we do, addressing the issues we address with the same array of voices. When people—students and professionals alike—hear about our vision, they get excited. What excites them is our spirit of inclusion, deeply committed to challenging beliefs, exploring new ideas, and informing people through aesthetics and words equally. Watershed is a hybrid of the natural and urban, of the artificial and the wild. Ours is a spirit of inclusion, of investigation, and inspiration.

Our Contributors:

Watershed has been privileged to publish work by major contemporary artists and authors. Featured in the first issue is the work of Robert Creeley, Alex Katz, Jan Zwicky and Dan James. The fall 2004 issue will feature the work of Joan Gussow, Todd Murphy and Alex Frost, among others. The work of undergraduate and graduate students from across the country is published in the same pages, making a unique collection of talented and famous voices.

Our Support:

Watershed is supported by Brown University's Creative Arts Council, by generous donations from our subscribers, and by our advertisers.