Postdoc Anne Dance Attends Environmental History Summer School
As graduate students and faculty know well, conferences can become a jet-lagged stumble from one meeting room to another. For the past ten years, the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE) has given historians at varying stages of their careers an alternative by running a three-day field school right before the Canadian Historical Association鈥檚 annual meeting. The Canadian History of the Environment Summer School (CHESS) took place in Ottawa last weekend, and I was fortunate to attend it.
More than thirty environmental historians spent time exploring the Central Experimental Farm, Gillies Grove (home of the tallest tree in Ontario, an impressive white pine), and of course Parliament Hill. We carefully made our way through a cavernous old DOMTAR pulp and paper mill at Chaudi猫re Falls, the long-time source of hydro power and a sacred place for the region鈥檚 Algonquin people. Despite the omnipresence of the federal government, examples of local community interventions dominated, including West Carleton residents who kept the Diefenbunker open as a strange museum dedicated to conflict resolution, children鈥檚 birthday parties, and, most recently, .
I wrote a summary of the weekend on my . Anyone who is interested in this field school should keep an eye on NiCHE鈥檚 .