By James Galgano

The Who: 16 excitedly awaiting Collegiate students, Upper School English teacher Dr. Bart Thornton, and guest speaker Peter Brannen. The Where: Academic Commons Room 108. The What: A discussion of the future—of cataclysmic events, of our changing world, of careers in the field of journalism. This is the 2023 Whitfield Speaker Series. 

The tradition all started with one man: former Collegiate parent Bryan Whitfield. Every year, Whitfield endows a program in which an expert in some field relating to English comes to host a seminar and speak to the Upper School. During this seminar, they discuss their career with aspiring students who take an interest in their work. Along with the smaller group seminar, the speaker presents to the entire Upper School during Assembly. Through the years, Collegiate has hosted a wide range of writers, journalists, screenwriters, musicians, memoirists, and other professional writers.

Brannen posing with his book after a presentation. Photo credit: @silverunicornbooks on Instagram.

Brannen brought two different focuses in his discussions on Mon., November 13. In the smaller group, he focused on his own career and how he began his specialization in paleontology-focused science journalism. He then gave feedback on a short writing piece that each participant had prepared. In the Upper School Assembly, he discussed the history of mass extinctions and how scientists use these past events to study our future with regards to climate change. He framed many of his points in assembly using ideas from his 2018 book The Ends of the World, where he explores these past extinctions with professional paleontologists and geologists. Throughout both presentations, he established the students as stewards of the future, with the idea that nothing in our world is beyond repair.

Before the seminar, Mary Ellis Logan (‘25) and I interviewed Dr. Thornton about his thoughts on the event and also discussed our own motivations for taking part in the smaller group portion. Following Brannen’s visit to Collegiate School, I revisited both Logan and Dr. Thornton for their reflections on the seminar.

Logan detailed her gratitude for Brannen sharing his path in the journalism world: “For people in the room who wanted tips on networking and how to become successful in the area of journalism, it was very helpful.” Not only did Brannen discuss key strategies he used when pitching ideas to high-profile newspapers, he also shared his own strategies when it comes to writing and how he stays motivated. One part of his daily routine I found particularly interesting was that when he needs to get work done, he takes “The T,”, Boston’s transit system, to the furthest stop possible. Brannen knows that a longer trip pushes him to be more efficient in his writing. Since the trip home takes so long, he is less inclined to want to get back on The T—and so he keeps writing.

A graph showing the Earth’s mass extinctions over millions of years. Image credit: CNX OpenStax via Wikimedia Commons.

Dr. Thornton complimented Brannen on his use of key metaphors and visuals in order to ground his points within the assembly presentation. For example, Brannen used “a certain amount of steps to fathom the distance the Earth goes back” in its history while physically taking steps across the stage. Dr. Thornton described this comparison as both an “interesting and illustrative” method that simplifies the complex history of the Earth into an easy-to-follow demonstration.

Other Collegiate students also found Brannen’s personal and global messages intriguing. Seminar participant Maytal Zasler (‘25) thanked Brannen for his helpful feedback on her writing. She explained, “I have never gotten feedback on something I’ve written from a professional journalist before.” For those looking to improve their writing techniques towards a writing-focused career, Brannen’s comments were both constructive and encouraging. Along with this, students who were looking toward science-related paths found the seminar and assembly to be an insightful blend of the two topics. Zasler added that because “writing and science” are areas that she “wants to pursue personally,” Brannen’s visit was “the perfect combination of her interests.”

An artist’s rendition of the meteor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Image credit: Donald E. Davis via Wikimedia Commons.

Even those who did not have any particular interest in the topic still felt that Brannen’s presentation was informative and creative. Syd Petty (‘25) noted that she “didn’t even know before the assembly that there was more than one mass extinction.” Since the topic of the “Big Five” mass extinctions is so niche, but at the same time so relevant to our current world, helping students understand these events is an increasingly important task. With his engaging presentation, Brannen was also able to retain the audience’s attention. Petty added that “it felt like a different way to learn about topics apart from being in the classroom.”

The Whitfield Speaker Series continues to promote the education of Collegiate students into their futures—fostering careers and global thinking through the art of writing. I, along with my Upper School peers, are grateful to Whitfield, Brannen, Dr. Thornton, and all other organizers who worked towards putting the seminar together.