ICEHO Bulletin 5 July 2015 (PDF)
Highlights include a special letter from Kathleen Brosnan, the current President of one of our largest member organizations, the American Society of Environmental History, and a report from the big European Society of Environmental History conference at Versailles. Welcome to a bumper newsletter – something to read in your summer or winter break (depending on where you are in the world).
ESEH met just as this Bulletin went to press. We also have an update about the bid from the city of Guimarães to become a Green Capital from immediate past president, Jane Carruthers, who is continuing the connections forged by our World Congress last year.
Please keep sending in the news for our regular bulletins. Deadline for material for the next one is 30 September.
Libby Robin (President ICEHO)
ANU, Canberra Australia
From Jane Carruthers:
A very cordial relationship developed over the 2013 World Congress of Environmental History between ICEHO and the City of Guimarães and the University of Minho. This has been maintained with the appointment of ICEHO Board members Jane Carruthers, Verena Winiwarter and Mauro Agnoletti to the Scientific and Monitoring Committee that will assist the city in its application to become the Green Capital of Europe in 2020.
Thus far Guimarães has received the accolades of World Heritage Site (2001), European Cultural Capital (2012) and European City of Sport (2013) so the award of Green Capital would complete its record as the outstanding and most prestigious all-round city on the continent!
Jane and Mauro recently attended the inaugural meeting of the Committee, delighted to renew their friendship with, among others, the Mayor Dr Domingos Bragança, the Rector Professor Antonio Cunha, the keynote speaker for the World Congress Mohan Munasinghe and Professor Estelita Vaz who chaired the Local Organising Committee last year.
The award of Green Capital is made on the basis of 12 environmental indicators, issues such as waste management, water supply and treatment, air quality, mobility and energy. In addition to these technical matters the human elements of environmental history, commitment, enthusiasm and attitude are critically important and it is to these, in particular, that ICEHO can contribute. In the evening after the inaugural committee meeting, the public of Guimarães gathered in the large auditorium of the cultural centre of Vila Flor (those who attended the WCEH will recall this as the site of the plenary sessions) to hear details of the planned application, to learn how various aspects will develop and how they might contribute. The presentation was greeted with much applause and enthusiasm. The city is using the Green Capital application not only for the prestigious honour of being a winner but to ensure that it is a model of urban sustainability and environmental diligence. This is an extremely exciting initiative and one that ICEHO is very pleased and honoured to be part of.
For further information see the following sites relating to Guimarães Mais Verde (some in English, some in Portuguese):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guimar%C3%A3es
www.cm-guimaraes.pt/pages/1092
www.fpguimaraes.pt/guimaraes-vai-estar-mais-verde/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpxKFTo1T4E
Guimarães Cidade Verde – Os Verdes
www.osverdes.pt/…/guimaraes-cidade-verde.php
News from Members
From Kathleen Brosnan
ASEH Continues to Expand Member Services
The American Society for Environmental History is thriving, thanks to its members and volunteer committees. Attendance at our meetings in Toronto (2013) and Washington, D.C. (2015) approached 700, and ASEH topped that mark for its conference in San Francisco (2014). Attendees from all over the world participate in several days of sessions, field trips, and other events. We will meet in Seattle in 2016 and Chicago in 2017 and hope that many ICEHO participants can join us.
In addition to our annual meeting, the publication of our quarterly journal, Environmental History, and other member services, ASEH recently dedicated many of its resources to promoting the professional development of our graduate student members. ASEH offers the Hal Rothman Dissertation Fellowship for scholarly research, a residential fellowship at the Newberry Library, and travel grants for the annual meeting, including some designated for international students and minority students. When circumstances permit, ASEH provides competitive student internships in partnerships with organizations such as the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2015.
Our members craft periodic “how-to” columns for our quarterly newsletter covering topics from publishing articles to applying for grants or becoming involved in environmental justice projects. Our graduate student caucus elects a liaison who participates as a full member of the ASEH executive committee. The caucus also has developed a Graduate Student Writing Workshop during the annual meeting during which established scholars lend their advice to dissertation candidates in environmental history.
Finally, ASEH recently launched a mentoring program which matches graduate students or post-graduates within five years of their degrees. Mentors come from universities and colleges, but also include professionals from outside the academy, giving our mentees have access to a wide range of professional experiences.
Environmental history remains a vital, vibrant scholarly field and ASEH remains dedicated to its past, present, and future – a future captured in the interests and activities of our valued graduate student members.
Kathleen A. Brosnan
President, American Society for Environmental History
Conference reports
From Ruth Morgan at ESEH
ESEH Versailles 2015
This week environmental historians from around the world descended upon beautiful Versailles, France, for the 8th Biennial Conference of the European Society for Environmental History (30 June to 4 July). The Université de Versailles, St Quentin En Yvelines, hosted our discussions this week and we found much-needed respite from France’s scorching summer heat in the shade of the campus grounds. We were treated to a warm welcome at the Espace Richaud by ESEH President, Professor Dolly Jørgensen, and local dignatories, including the Deputy Mayor, the university president, the Chair of the Local Organising Committee, Professor Grégory Quénet. Professor Quénet reminded us of the importance of our meeting in the lead up to the COP21 in Paris in November and December this year, and emphasised the need for the wider recognition of the role of the humanities in tackling climate change.
We returned to this theme the following evening in the first plenary session of the conference at the stunning Théâtre Montansier. There, the head of the Climate Negotiation Team of France, Paul Watkinson, and Nobel-prize winning French climate scientist, Jean Jouzel, treated us to their insights into the road to COP21 and took questions from the audience about the challenges ahead.
On Thursday afternoon conference delegates had the opportunity to explore historic Versailles on guided tours, which included the Potager du Roi and the Valée de Chevreuse Natural Park.
Countless macarons, croissants, and coffee fuelled engaging and thought-provoking discussions prompted by conference papers, roundtables, films and posters. True to the conference theme of ‘Greening History: studying the environment across disciplines: past, present and future’, we shared experiences of interdisciplinary engagement with the social sciences and sciences, and the methodological opportunities and challenges that such interactions offer.
We celebrated a successful conference and toasted ESEH prize-winners in the grounds of the Château de Versailles over a delicious meal at La Petite Venise, the site of Louis XIV’s workshops.
On behalf of all conference delegates, I sincerely thank the ESEH, the Local Organising Committee, and the Program Committee for their tireless efforts to bring us together in Versailles for a week of stimulating conversations. I’m sure we’re all looking forward to Zagreb in 2017!
Ruth Morgan
Monash University, Australia
Upcoming conferences
ASEH 2016: Environmental History and Its Publics
March 30 – April 3, 2016
http://aseh.net/conference-workshops/seattle-conference-2016
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The CITCEM – Transdisciplinary Culture, Space and Memory Research Centre
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Porto, Portugal
4TH CITCEM CONFERENCE
Crossing Borders: Connecting Edges of Environmental History
Porto, Portugal CITCEM/FLUP
5 to 7 November 2015
(Website will be available soon)
The CITCEM – Transdisciplinary Culture, Space and Memory Research Centre, is honored to organize its fourth conference, with focus on the theme of environmental history – Crossing Borders: Connecting Edges of Environmental History, 5 to 7 November 2015, in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto. The CITCEM Strategic Plan sets out four lines of research cross-cutting different research groups. Environmental history and maritime culture represent one of the strategic lines, bringing together interests in population and health, territorial cohesion, cultural diversity and transnational history.
We would like to welcome all researchers to present new research and provide an account of the state of art.
KEYNOTE: Mauro Agnoletti
(University of Florence) http://horizons.mruni.eu/speakers/mauroagnoletti/
Abstracts accepted by the Scientific Committee and presented in the meeting, will be published.
FEES: Free** for CITCEM researchers, students and participants presenting papers – mandatory registration
Auditing participants (not presenting) 10€
Fees include a day trip 7th November. (**excludes travel, accommodation and meals.)
Sessions will be organized by thematic topics, according to individual or panel proposals. The following are some of the topics which will be considered from different perspectives and from a long term view:
- Artistic explorations in environment
- Climate change
- Disasters and risks
- Endangered bodies
- Energy and changing circumstances
- Environmental conflicts
- Transplanting iconic species
- Imperialism and environment
- Literature and environment/ nature in literature
- Metaphors and perceptions of landscape change
- Science and environment
- Well-being, societal and environmental resilience
Early career researchers are strongly encouraged both in poster sessions and full presentations
| SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:
Arnaldo de Sousa Melo (LAB2PT/UM) Cristina Joanaz de Melo (IHC/FCSH/UNL) Inês Amorim (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Lino Augusto Tavares Dias (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Luís Espinha da Silveira (IHC/FCSH/UNL) Manuela Martins (LAB2PT/UM) Maria Cristina Cunha (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Maria Norberta Amorim (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Pedro Vilas Boas Tavares (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Sérgio Rodrigues (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) |
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Carlota Santos (CITCEM/UM) Fabíola Pires (CITCEM) Inês Amorim (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Ismael Vieira (CITCEM) John Greenfield (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Luís Alberto Marques Alves (CITCEM/FLUP/UP) Luís Silva (CITCEM) Sara Pinto (CITCEM) Zulmira Santos (CITCEM/FLUP/UP)
Secretariat: Marlene Cruz
|
Official languages: Portuguese, English, French and Spanish.
Important deadlines:
31 July 2015: Deadline for abstract submission (max. 500 words; with indication of the respective thematic area), with CV (max. 200 words).
15 September 2015: Submission results.
15 October 2015: Deadline for registration.
Contact: hambiental.citcem@letras.up.pt
Other news
Jane Carruthers Honoured
Immediate Past President, Jane Carruthers was named a finalist for the 2014/15 National Science and Technology Forum/BHP BILLITON Awards in South Africa. For an Individual for an outstanding contribution to Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) over a lifetime
Oklahoma History Thrilled to Join ICEHO
The University of Oklahoma Department of History was pleased to become a member of ICEHO last year. My colleague Sterling Evans and I attended the first two meetings of the World Congress of Environmental History in Copenhagen in 2009 and Guimarães in 2014 and I had an opportunity to participate on the 2014 program committee under Graeme Wynn’s excellent leadership. Thrilled by our experiences at the Congresses and eager to promote transnational and interdisciplinary environmental history, we believe that our continuing support of ICEHO and its mission is important to the discipline of environmental history and essential to the goals of our department.
With a renowned faculty of nearly 40 members, the OU History Department offers B.A. and M.A. degrees and the Ph.D. in four core fields, including the environmental history of the United States and Latin America. Our environmental history program began when Donald Pisani, former ASEH president, taught here from the early 1990s to 2012 and trained many fine graduate students. And our faculty members coordinate with colleagues across campus in the Honors College, the History of Science Department, and the Department of Geography and Sustainability who share our interest in the environment.
OU possesses amazing resources for scholars interested in environmental history, including the celebrated Western History Collections, the Carl Albert Center for Congressional Research, a premier History of Science Collection, and the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, a research division of OU housing more than 10 million objects and specimens.
Norman, Oklahoma, is one of the three “most affordable small cities in America” according to a recent survey. And the OU History Department eagerly welcomes visiting scholars from around the world to utilize our archival collections and participate in the intellectual life of the department, including lectures, symposia, and our research workshop. We encourage queries from any scholars considering Fulbright applications or other fellowships.
Kathleen A. Brosnan
Travis Chair of Modern American History, University of Oklahoma
From James Beattie, New Zealand:
I’m delighted to announce the website for the Waikato Historical Research Unit has been finalized: http://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/research/centres-units/hru
… with links to research associates, institutional research collaborators, public seminar and lectures series and research
Dr. James Beattie
Director, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato
Email: jbeattie@waikato.ac.nz
Environment and History
Highlights August 2015 (Vol 21, no. 3)
Milja van Tielhof ‘Forced Solidarity: Maintenance of Coastal Defences Along the North Sea Coast in the Early Modern Period’
Antonio Gai, ‘Guilty, Sexual and Local: Nature for the Nation in the Italian Narrative of the Bel Paese (19th century)’
Fenneke Sysling, ‘Protecting the Primitive Natives’: Indigenous People as Endangered Species in the Early Nature Protection Movement, 1900-1940’
Paula Johanna Saari, ‘Marketing Nature: The Canadian National Parks Branch and Constructing the Portrayal of National Parks in Promotional Brochures, 1936-1970’
And a new record number of Reviews:
- Tom Williamson, An Environmental History of Wildlife in England, 1650-1950 (Etienne Benson)
- Walter Johnson, River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom (Troy Vettese)
- Michael Chaplin et al, Tyne View: A Walk around the Port of Tyne (Leona Skelton)
- Karen Kilcup, Fallen Forests: Emotion, Embodiment, and Ethics in American Women’s Environmental Writing, 1781-1924 (Timothy Sweet)
- William Beinart, Karen Middleton and Simon Pooley, eds., Wild Things: Nature and the Social Imagination (Julie Hughes)
- Matthew Morse Booker, Down by the Bay: San Francisco’s History Between the Tides (Laura A. Watt)
- Astrid Kander, Paolo Malanima and Paul Warde, Power to the People: Energy in Europe over the Last Five Centuries (Francesco X. Barca-Salom)
- John K. Walton and Jason Wood, eds., The Making of a Cultural Landscape: The English Lake District as a Tourist Destination, 1750-2010 (Harriet Ritvo)
Congratulations on the new Impact Factor – 0.778!!
Do you want to join ICEHO?
From as little as $US100/year.
Information online: http://www.iceho.org/membership/
Membership form: http://www.iceho.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ICEHO-Membership-Application.pdf
Or contact treasurer, Steve Anderson: Steve.Anderson@duke.edu
If you have contributions for the next bulletin, please send to your regional representative:
Alan MacEachern (Canada) amaceach@uwo.ca
James Beattie(Oceania)jbeattie@waikato.ac.nz
John McNeill (US) mcneillj@georgetown.edu
José Padua (South America) jpadua@terra.com.br
Mauro Agnoletti (Europe)mauro.agnoletti@unifi.it
Ranjan Chakrabarti (India)ranjan.jadavpur@gmail.com
Shen Hou (China) houshen414@gmail.com
Or to libby.robin@anu.edu.au
The International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations is a ‘network of networks’, and between Congresses, we want to work actively to promote environmental history in all its forms: as scholarship and research, informing public policy and education, and in promoting collaboration between environmental historians around the world. Once every five years we meet for a Congress. In between, we are joined by our website.
Feature image: Baroque Guimarães Portugal. Photo: Oneterry Aka Terry Kearney
