Dr. Kimberly Ruffin

Dr. Kim Ruffin is an author, Associate Professor of English and Program Director of Literature and Languages at Roosevelt University, and trained nature and forest therapy guide. Her multi-dimensional work focuses on the deep connections between African Americans and the natural world, and its potentials for mutual liberation. Her upcoming book, tentatively entitled “The Nature of My Ancestors, Telling a New Earth Story with the Formerly Enslaved,” is based on extensive research of oral histories from the formerly enslaved and explores the deep relationships between enslaved peoples and nature, the wisdom and resourcefulness born from that relationship, and its relevance for the ecological and social crises facing us today.