Award-winning author Kenneth Rosen spoke to students on campus on Mon. April 7 and Tues. April 8 following the publication of his most recent book, Polar War.
Polar War details rising concerns of climate change and geopolitical conflict in the Arctic.
Rosen’s visit was part of his current book tour across the United States.
“I came here…to share what I wrote about in Polar War, which is a deep dive into the dual impacts of climate change and geopolitics in the high north, and what that means for the rest of us,” explained Rosen. “I think it’s important to understand that as the Arctic melts, it is not only regionalized in the circumpolar north, but to the rest of the world and our own country. It is important to look outside of our community boundaries to appreciate that our planet is global, and what happens in the arctic does not stay in the arctic.”
Ferrum is one of many schools on Rosen’s journey to share the message of his book.
“I lectured at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) during the writing of the book,” said Rosen. “I am here now, and I have a few more lined up.”
Media and Communication Program Coordinator and Professor Amy Loeffler initially met Rosen during his time at UAF in 2024. At the time, Loffler was a senior science writer for the Institute of Arctic Biology at UAF.
“I was doing searches on various social media outlets to identify journalists that I could pitch stories to about research happening at IAB,” offered Loeffler. “Ken’s information popped up in a Google search.”
Loeffler explained the contact as both comical and confusing.
“I remember there were a lot of confused comments,” Loeffler said. “Whatever the platform was about, whether he was commissioning work himself or seeking information–which no one had bothered to clarify. I found that kind of funny in this environment where we find ourselves prioritizing social media outlets as the most revered form of communication.
She said she didn’t really expect to hear anything from him.
“But, he responded, and he was able to string together his own research visits in Interior Alaska, along with talking to researchers at UAF the first week of February in 2024. Ken ended up having somewhat of a week-long residency at UAF in Fairbanks where he visited classes and gave a lecture to IAB researchers and members of the Fairbanks community as an invited lecturer, all stemming from that initial communication.”
Rosen’s time at UAF inspired Loeffler to invite him to speak at Ferrum.
“I invited Ken to come to campus here at Ferrum College because during his visit in 2024, the students responded very well to him,” Loeffler noted. “I knew that he would be approachable and have a lot of useful information about his reporting from the Arctic, and also how he managed to navigate all of the experiences he had–ranging from collecting scientific samples at Toolik, to interviewing policymakers, to talking to regular citizens of the circumpolar north.”
Loeffler also hoped that students across campus would benefit from speaking with someone in their aspiring fields. Rosen not only spoke in the Panther’s Den during community hour, but during Loeffler’s Media Law and Ethics class as well.
“I thought that students at Ferrum would be able to benefit from hearing about his experiences–both the highs and the lows of working as a journalist,” Loefler said. “The media industry is so volatile right now, it’s a real asset to be able to speak with someone about the trajectory of his or her career and how they manage the challenges, financial and mental, of an industry that seems to have a ready-made stress factor. The book really addresses a lot of issues from geopolitics, to climate change, to food security, and there was that broad appeal that I thought would reach many disciplines across campus, too.”
Senior Stone Gibbs, as a graduating communications major, found Rosen’s appearance to be both insightful and inspiring.
“He’s very laid back and personal,” Gibbs said. “He is a great blend of honest and knowledgeable. There was a lot to learn from him. You can tell he is really passionate about his work.”
And passionate, Rosen is, as he aimed to leave students with a message that he finds both important and relevant:
“Climate change isn’t regionalized,” he said. “What we see in Virginia with respect to major climate events, and the destruction of the planet, is something that’s experienced all over the world–but more importantly for students, I want to share that if they have a dream and a desire and they want to do something, that they should seek to be the best at it and not let anyone tell them that they cannot do it, or that it’s not worth it.”
