CHE Past Activities

This section serves as an archive for the CHE-related activities and events that we have conducted over the years. Visit our News & Events page to find out about recent and upcoming events.

February Public Talk and Colloquium: Jim Downs

Jim Downs of Connecticut College visited CHE in February (after a rescheduled visit from October). Professor Downs delivered a public lecture, "Dying to be Free: The Health Conditions of Freed Slaves during the Civil War and Reconstruction" at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, February 26 in 126 Memorial Library. Download a poster for this talk here. He held an office hour for graduate students on Wednesday, February 27 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM in 125 Bradley Memorial. And he joined CHE for a colloquium on February 27. His colloquium talk was entiteled "Slavery, Colonialism and the Environment: The International Cholera Epidemics in the 19th Century." Here's how he described his talk:

"Building on research interests from my first book, Sick from Freedom, my new project examines the international cholera epidemics during the nineteenth century. Part of the project maps the outbreak of cholera from India to Europe and then to the Caribbean and the United States, but then examines how the epidemic moved in the reverse direction—particularly on prison trips from Bermuda to the American West, and to Australia. As cholera crisscrossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a dialogue developed among various federal officials and physicians about how to prevent the further outbreak of the epidemic. I examine this discourse in order to trace how the emerging field of epidemiology reached various corners of the globe, often as a result of colonialism and slavery. The focus of my talk will examine the work of British medical inspectors in the Caribbean during the first half of the nineteenth-century, paying particular attention to how British medical inspectors describe and document the outbreak of cholera among Chinese laborers in Cuba, Africans in French Martinique, and Irish prisoners in Bermuda. In each of these settings, British doctors turned to the environment in order to explain the spread of cholera, and, most of all, to offer substantive proof to the medical profession in London of the then nascent field of epidemiology."

Read more about Downs' book Sick from Freedom in this New York Times feature.

Photo Exhibitiion in Bradley Memorial by Nathan Jandl

"Presence, Absence, Inhabitation"

CHE was pleased to host an exhibition of photographs by CHE's own Nathan Jandl, beginning in February 2012.The installation was launched with a reception on Friday February 10th from 5:30PM - 7:00PM in the Lobby of Bradley Memorial.

To see some of the photos that were featured in this exhibition and more of Nathan's work, please click here

 

Mark Fiege: The Republic of Nature Environmental History and the Canonical American Past
March 27, 2012

Henry David Thoreau, Yellowstone National Park, and the Dust Bowl are easily understood as important topics in American environmental history. Yet, Mark Fiege explains, nothing in the history of the United States--not even the subjects that define the canonical textbook account of the nation's past—stands outside of the natural world. Among the moments that Fiege revisits, a revolutionary nation arises from its environment and struggles to reconcile the diversity of its people with the claim that nature is the source of liberty. Abraham Lincoln, an unlettered citizen from the countryside, steers the Union through a moment of extreme peril, guided by his clear-eyed vision of nature's capacity for improvement. In Topeka, Kansas, transformations of land and life prompt a lawsuit that culminates in the momentous civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education. By focusing on matter, energy, and forces that are intrinsic to all things and by highlighting the nature of the United States, Fiege recovers the forgotten and overlooked ground on which so much of the nation's history has unfolded.

Tales from Planet Earth Returns!

CHE and the Nelson Institute are proud to announce the return of our Tales from Planet Earth environmental film festival March 25-31st, 2012. This year's festival runs in conjunction with the meeting of the American Society for Environmental History, but all events are free and open to the public. To learn more and to see the full schedule of films, speakers, and events, click here.

To learn more about the 2012 ASEH Meeting and to see the schedule and program,
click here

Thomas Andrews – Tuesday January 31st

"Vehicles of Resistance?:
Horses, Native Peoples, and Euroamerican Colonialism in the Greater Western Borderlands of North America"

4:00PM – Tuesday January 31st – 125 Bradley Memorial

Sponsored by CHE, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, and the University Lectures Committee

Please join us for a public talk by UC-Boulder's, and UW-Madison alum, Thomas Andrews. A full abstract of Andrews' talk is available here. Andrews is the author of the Bancroft Award-winning Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War (2008)

Prof. Andrews will also serve as the discussion launcher for
CHE's Colloquium on Wednesday February 1st at Noon in 202/4 Bradley Memorial.

 

CHE Colloquium – Wednesday September 21, 2011 –

Cóilín Parsons:"A Full-face Portrait of the Land: Reading Modernity in the Irish Ordnance Survey Maps"

CHE's Sixth Annual Place-Based Workshop:
May 16-19, 2011

CHE is pleased to announce its sixth annual Place-Based Workshop, May 16-19, 2011.

The theme of this year's workshop is "Landscapes of Health," and will explore populations, health care issues, and landscapes that have beenshaped by past and present economic, social, and environmental conditions in the state of Wisconsin.

Learn more about CHE's Place-Based Workshops here

Fourth Annual CHE Graduate Student Symposium

Saturday March 26, 2011

Each Spring, CHE's grad students hold a symposium that highlights the eclectic range of interests that come together at CHE. This year's symposium will be held on Saturday, March 26 in Room 175 Science Hall.

CHE Director William Cronon elected President of the American Historical Association

UW-Madison Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies William Cronon has been elected the president of the American Historical Association beginning in January 2012.

See the full press release here

Zev Trachtenberg
"Rousseau as a Philosopher of Environmental History"

CHE co-sponsored an Yi-Fu Tuan Lecture with the Department of Geography by Zev Trachtenberg, Department of Philosophy, University of Oklahoma.

Friday November 12, 2010

CHE Hosts WHEATS 2010

CHE hosted the 2010 WHEATS workshop October, 8-10, 2010. WHEATS (Workshop for the History of Environment, Agriculture, Technology, and Science) brought eight graduate students from around the country together with CHE grads and faculty to read and discuss one another's work at length. The weekend also featured a kick-off talk by Shane Hamilton of the University of Georgia, as well as a publishing panel featuring CHE faculuty member and editor-elect of Environmental History, Nancy Langston.

For more information on the WHEATS workshop click here.

Wednesday, September 29th, 3:30pm, Wisconsin Union Theater

Conservation in Wisconsin: Our Legacy and Our Future

CHE and the Nelson Institute sponsor a special program to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and to explore Wisconsin's historic and continuing legacy of conservation leadership and innovation. Featured speakers will include Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan of the US Department of Agriculture, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White, and Neil Maher, Rutgers University historian and author of Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement. For more information, please see the press release here.

In addition, CHE's Colloquium on Wed. September 29th was launched by Neil Maher with a topic titled: "Ground Control: Unearthing An Environmental History of the Space Race."

 

Thursday, September 23 4:00-5:30pm, 206 Ingraham Hall

Robert B. Marks: "China: Its Environment and History"

 

CHE is pleased to join the Center for East Asian Studies in welcoming Robert B. Marks to Madison on September 23rd. Prof. Marks is the Richard & Billie Deihl Distinguished Professor of History at Whittier College and the author of The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Century.

September 1st, 2010

CHE's Fall 2010 Welcome Back Picnic

CHE hosted its 2010 Welcome Back picnic on Wednesday September 1st, at Tenney Park.

 

 

May 2010

CHE Place-Based Workshop 2010: "Energy in the Upper Midwest"

 

In May 2010 CHE embarked on its fifth annual Place-Based Workshop, which explored sites of energy production, consumption, and distribution in the Upper Midwest.

This workshop coincided with the first CHE Methods Seminar that used energy as a lens for exploring different disciplinary approaches to studying past environmental change. Seminar and workshop participants produced a remarkable set of documents on the history of energy which can be found in our new sub-site, CHE Energy. For more on our Place-Based Workshops, please click here.

April 10, 2010

CHE Grad Student Symposium

The 3rd annual CHE Graduate Student Symposium was held April 10, 2010 in the Memorial Union (TITU) on the UW-Madison campus.

The student presentations were well attended, and attendees praised the breadth, quality, and originality of the scholarship of CHE grad students. As is our custom, presenters received constructive feedback, challenging questions, and much appreciated encouragement.

Visit the Graduate Student Symposium page for more information about the program, topics, and speakers.

March 8, 2010

Tips from CHE Chicago Workshop

Visit this resource of tips on reading an urban landscape that was compiled from the graduate student participants of the CHE Place-Based Workshop in Chicago and the Indiana Dunes.

Visit the CHE Place-Based Workshops page to find out more about these trips, and the important place that they have in the CHE community.

We had a great time working on this eclectic mix of perspectives on ways to deeply experience urban environments. Enjoy!

March 3, 2010

CHE has a tradition of devoting one spring session of the Colloquium to hearing lectures by students who will be presenting papers at the annual meeting of the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH).

The 2010 ASEH Conference was held jointly this year with the National Council on Public History from March 10-14 in Portland, Oregon.

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"The Riddle of Sustainability:
Pondering the Environmental Past
to Imagine the Human Future"

CHE Director William Cronon's spoke to a standing-room-only auditorium on the origins of the public discourse around sustainability and the promise that the concept holds for the future of the environmental movement.

The talk was part of the Focus on the Humanities: Distinguished Faculty Lectures Series of the Center for the Humanities.

February 25-27, 2010

CHE was pleased to co-sponsor the Institute for Research in the Humanities' (IRH) 50th anniversary symposium titled "Globalization and the Humanities: Then and Now, Here and There".


Visit IRH's Events page to find out more about the symposium.

February 24, 2010

Daniel Brayton, Assistant Professor of English and American Literatures at Middlebury College, had two speaking engagements on campus:

• "Royal Fish: Marine Mammals in Shakespeare and Early Modern Natural History" for the CHE Colloquium and
• "Literature and the Global Ocean: Towards a Blue Ecocriticism" for his public lecture.

February 16, 2009

CHE associate Abigail Neely is displaying an exhibit of her photography from her recent field research in South Africa. "Faces and Places" celebrates the people and the places of the Pholela region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and explores the meanings of "place" through the faces of Pholela's residents and through the words they use to describe their favorite places.

You can find the exhibit in the first floor of Bradley Memorial. Visit the Department of Geography's News and Events page to read more about the exhibit and see more images.

February 12, 2010

Andrew Dugmore, Professor of Geography at the University of Edinburgh, gave a well-attended talk titled "Well adapted but still extinct: lessons in human ecodynamics from the Viking settlement of the North Atlantic."

February 10, 2010

Kristen Joiner, Executive Director of Sustain Dane, presented her talk "Turning Thought into Action: Sustainability and the World of the Non-Profit".

She described the role of NGOs as social change agents and discussed what knowledge, skills and talents are required to effect change in the world of the non-profit.

February 1, 2010

CHE faculty member Nancy Langston's fascinating book Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the Legacy of DES has been released by Yale University Press. Toxic Bodies follows the troubling case of diethylstilbestrol (DES), the first synthetic hormone that poisoned women, workers, children, livestock, consumers, and wildlife. Langston explores how scientific uncertainty has been manipulated to delay regulation, and shows how we can use history to make better policy.

Congratulations, Nancy!

January 27, 2010

In his talk "Anatomy of a Tipping Point", Ken Raffa, Professor in the Department of Entomology, outlined insights into how human inputs can shift the balance of complex systems. He described the case of the native bark beetle and the changes of outbreaks over time and climate regimes.

January 26, 2010

Gaylord Nelson and Earth Day: The Making of the Modern Environmental Movement, a website, has been launched. Its pages give an interactive presentation of Gaylord Nelson's political career and the founding of Earth Day. Originally conceived as a "national teach-in on the environment," Nelson's idea became a historic turning point and a transformative institution of the American environmental movement.

CHE partnered with the Nelson Institute and the Wisconsin Historical Society to build this innovative site, and Brian Hamilton, a Grad Associate in CHE, is the chief author of its contents.

December 2, 2009

Todd Goddard, a CHE grad associate and doctoral candidate in the English Department, offered an overview of his dissertation research in his talk "A Property in the Horizon: Land Speculation, Literature, and the (Eco)nomic Imagination in Nineteenth-Century America."

November 16-21, 2009

Scott Russell Sanders participated in many speaking events during his stay in Madison. He has generously posted a copy of his speech at the UW Arboretum.

Sanders is an emeritus professor of English at Indiana University, and the author of novels, short stories, and nonfiction essays on the human relationship to the natural world. In 2006, he published A Private History of Awe – which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize – and in 2009 he published A Conservationist Manifesto.

CHE, the Nelson Institute, the Year of Humanities, and the UW-Madison Arboretum are proud of the collaborative events surrounding Scott Russell Sanders's stay.

November 6-8, 2009

Tales from Planet Earth, which was curated by Gregg Mitman, attracted over 4,600 viewers. For more information on the films, activities, organizers, and actions that you can take, please visit the TfPE website.

CHE Student Films

The two-minute shorts of the students from the Fall 2009 Environmental Filmmaking Workshop have been posted. These trailers were shown throughout the Tales from Planet Earth Film Festival.

The course was co-taught by Gregg Mitman and filmmaker-in-residence Judith Helfand. CHE associates Meridith Beck Sayre and Kevin Gibbons were students of this year's course.

Tales of Collaboration

The Working Films blog has chronicled the activities of the Tales from Planet Earth community partners and the students of the Community Engagement Through Film course.

Mario Garcia Sierra (pictured right) of Centro Hispano said about the events surrounding the film festival, "…I think that this is unique about this [collaboration] that we see that the stories stay in the community, … and the youth … feel … really proud and empowered … wanting to do more."

September 24-26, 2009

Michael Pollan's Visit an Overwhelming Success
The events organized around Michael Pollan's stay sparked a campus-wide dialogue about our relationship to food. To learn more about his visit to UW, explore the Go Big Read and Center for the Humanities pages.

Fall 2009

"Botanical Collections from Costa Rica," work by illustrator, artist, and activist Gini Knight, was on display for some months in Bradley Memorial.

Illustration by Gini Knight from The Common Trees of Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve.

April 29, 2009

We were joined by Anne Strainchamps of Wisconsin Public Radio for an Environmental History Colloquium on a new series of radio programs that explore the "sense of place" in Wisconsin. 12:00-1:00 p.m., 204 Bradley Memorial Building.

Week of April 13-17, 2009

Leading environmental critic and literary historian Lawrence Buell, Professor of American Literature, Harvard, will join the Environmental History Colloquium on Wednesday, April 15 for a talk entitled, "Environmental Apocalyptics: Their Past and Future." Please join us from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. in 7191 Helen C. White Hall.

On Thursday, April 16, Professor Buell will also give a lecture in the Department of English, "Private War/Public Sphere: Thoreau as Prototypical Civil Disobedient,” at 4:00 p.m. in 6191 H.C. White Hall.

April 4, 2009

Second Annual Graduate Student Symposium

CHE members participated in a symposium of current research. Gregg Mitman gave a kickoff talk entitled "Building Sustainable Communities: Fragmented Landscapes and the Uses of Environmental History." Our plenary speaker was James Feldman, Assistant Professor of History and Environmental Studies and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who discussed the contribution of interdiscplinary environmental studies to campus sustainability initiatives.

Week of March 30-April 3, 2009

MIT Professor of Landscape Architecture Anne Whiston Spirn will give a public lecture, ""Daring to Look": Dorothea Lange, Photography, and the Art of Discovery" on Tuesday, March 31, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. in the L-140 auditorium of the Chazen Museum of Art. The author of Daring to Look: Dorothea Lange's Photographs and Reports from the Field (University of Chicago Press, 2008), The Language of Landscape (Yale University Press, 1998), and The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design (Basic Books, 1984), Spirn will be on hand following the lecture for a book signing.

Professor Spirn will join the Environmental History Colloquium on Wednesday, April 1 for an extended session, "The West Philadelphia Landscape Project: Reflections on Twenty Years of Engagement." The West Philadelphia Landscape Project is a longitudinal, place-based, action research project dedicated to rebuilding an inner-city neighborhood to restore ecological and social systems. Please join us from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. in the On Wisconsin room of Red Gym.

Also on Tuesday, March 31, a lunch "Conversation with David Lowenthal" will take place at noon in 140 Science Hall. David Lowenthal is emeritus Professor of Geography, University College London.

On Wednesday, April 1, Lowenthal will give a public lecture entitled "Earth Day or End Time? Reclaiming the Future," 7:00 p.m., 2650 Mosse Humanities Building.

Week of March 23-27, 2009

Wednesday, March 25 "Earthquakes and Emigrant Indians: Investigating the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812." Conevery Bolton Valencius, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University, presents to the Environmental History Colloquium, room 202 Bradley Memorial Hall.

Week of March 2-6, 2009

Wednesday, March 4 the Environmental History Colloquium welcomes Paige West, Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University. Professor West will also give a public lecture on Thursday, March 5 at 4:00 p.m. entitled, "From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive: Growing, Selling, and Marketing Coffee from Papua New Guinea."

Thursday, March 5, Dr. West will give a lecture sponsored by the University Lectures Committee entitled, "From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive: Growing, Selling, and Marketing Coffee from Papua New Guinea." 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., 6210 Social Sciences Hall.

Week of February 16-20, 2009

CHE hosts an extra session of the Environmental History Colloquium on Wednesday, February 18. The special session offers feedback to graduate students who will present their work at the American Society for Environmental History annual conference, February 25-March 1, 2009.

Week of February 9-13, 2009

"How the Historical Clear-cut Shaped Modern Conservation Policies in Northern Wisconsin" The Environmental History Colloquium welcomes Jennifer Schmitz on Wednesday, February 11. Her talk will discuss 19th-20th-century changes in local ecosystems, legislative policies, and social values that shaped current conservation policies in the forests of northern Wisconsin.
202 Bradley Memorial, 12:00-1:00pm

Week of January 26-30, 2009

On Wednesday, January 28, Nancy Langston, UW-Madison Professor of Forest History, Wildlife Ecology, and Environmental Studies will lead a discussion, Modern Meat: Synthetic Hormones, Livestock, and Gender Anxieties in Post-War America. Her talk will examine the legacies of widespread use of diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen approved as a growth-promoter in livestock in the U.S. industrialized feedlot system soon after World War II. In what will surely be an engaging conversation, Nancy will discuss "Concern over DES effects exploded as well in various lay groups, including farmers who handled treated livestock, workers who manufactured the material, and consumers who grew increasingly anxious about gender in an age of synthetic hormones." Bradley Memorial, room TBA, 12:00-1:00pm

January 20, 2009

We are pleased to inaugurate a new online teaching resource! Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer for Environmental Historians and Others" represents the collaboration of Bill Cronon's Fall 2008 graduate environmental history seminar. The site presents a wealth of practical wisdom on teaching Research Processes and working with Sources in historical research, and will be of interest to teachers and researchers alike.

Week of November 16-22, 2008

On Tuesday, November 18, Niko Pfund, Vice President and Publisher for Academic Books, Oxford University Press, delivered a talk, co-sponsored by UW-Madison libraries and the History department, on "Scholarship and Publishing in a Digital World: Where We Are, and Where We're Heading." He followed this up by also joining the CHE Environmental History Colloquium on Wednesday, November 19, for a talk on "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Publishing But Were Afraid to Ask." Niko offered his perspective on changing trends in academic publishing and revolutions such as on-demand printing that are helping publishing houses to adapt to new economies and technologies.

Week of November 2-8, 2008

On Wednesday, November 5, UW-Madison professor of botany and environmental studies Don Waller led a discussion on "Vanishing Presents: How Can We Alert the Public to Creeping Cumulative Ecological Change?” His talk explored the new book he edited with Tom Rooney called The Vanishing Present, which gathers ecological data from many scientific disciplines about the changing ecosystems of Wisconsin and the potential systemic causes of declines in biodiversity and species composition shifts. He noted that the consistent lack of baseline ecological data worldwide makes restoration and environmental monitoring very problematic.

Week of October 27-November 1, 2008

On Wednesday, October 29, 50 people joined filmmaker Catherine Gund for a rough-cut screening of her documentary What's On Your Plate. This film was the second of our "Dinner and a Movie Night" events, which showcase new and in-progress films that confront environmental issues and mobilize audiences to make social change. Gund's film follows two New York City girls as they explore the food available to them, the systems that produce it, and the implications for their health. The feedback provided at this session will help Gund complete the editing of her film in time to bring it back next fall to premiere at our Tales from Planet Earth film festival November 6-8, 2009.

Week of October 20-26, 2008

On Wednesday, October 22, the CHE Environmental History Colloquium was hosted by Gregg Mitman, Megan Raby, Sara Hotchkiss, and Lynn Nyhart, who discussed "People, Plants, and Culture: Bringing Humanistic Inquiry to a Botanical Database." The discussion centered on a digital database containing images and information on all known plants of Africa and Latin America that has been assembled by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Mellon Foundation was seeking feedback on how the database could be developed well beyond its botanical potential to engage scholars in a variety of humanistic projects.

Week of October 13-19, 2008

On Tuesday, October 14, CHE celebrated its first year as a center in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies with its Fall Reception in Bradley Memorial. More than 60 faculty, staff, and graduate students from across the UW campus joined us for the occasion, including new UW-Madison Chancellor Carolyn "Biddy" Martin. The event included recognition of William Cronon's appointment as the new director of CHE and also honored the significant contributions to CHE of outgoing director Gregg Mitman, who has taken on the Interim Director role for the Nelson Institute. We also honored the work of photographer and artist Terrill Knaack, whose visiting collection "Rediscovering Our Forgotten Landscape" is on display in Bradley Memorial this fall.

Following the reception, CHE held an informal Member's Meeting to brainstorm more ideas for the coming year, including ways to promote the CHE certificate and the CHE interdisciplinary methods seminar.

On Thursday, October 16, noted ecological historian and public intellectual Ramachandra Guha joined CHE for two events. At noon, he delivered a talk to the CHE Environmental History Colloquium entitled "The Career of Environmental History in South Asia: A Personal Account." Then at 4 pm, more than 50 people attended his lecture on "The Past and Future of the Environmental Movement in India."

On Sunday, October 19, CHE and the Nelson Institute held their first "Dinner and a Movie" night in advance of the 2009 Tales from Planet Earth film festival. Around 100 people joined us for the world premiere sneak-peak screening of The Hunger Season, a new documentary that traces the journey of Wisconsin-grown corn through USAID to villages in Swaziland and considers the many causes of the global food crisis. After the film, over the same meal received by villagers in Swaziland, participants discussed hunger issues with the filmmakers, local academics, and hunger activists.

This screening was co-sponsored by CHE, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and First United Methodist Church with support from the Bradshaw Knight Foundation, Didion Milling, University of Wisconsin-Madison's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Letters and Sciences.

Week of October 6-12, 2008

On Wednesday, October 8, Stephen Thomforde of the Nelson Institute’s Environment and Resources Program led a discussion at the CHE Environmental History Colloquium on the topic "Bringing the Canvasback Back: An Environmental History of the Last American Wilderness Icon." His talk focused on a systems theory approach into the dynamics associated with the current ecological and socio-economical conditions.

Week of September 22-28, 2008

On Wednesday, September 24, Mrill Ingram of the UW Arboretum and editor of the journal Ecological Restoration led a discussion at the CHE Environmental History Colloquium on the topic "The Worm, the Plant and the People - Invasive Networks and Creative Restoration at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum." Her talk led to a discussion of the goals of ecological restoration and the challenges of finding the right metaphors and discourses for engaging these issues on a historical and public policy level.

Week of September 15-21, 2008

On Monday, September 15th, CHE co-hosted - along with the History of Science department and the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies - Harriet Ritvo, the renowned MIT historian. Professor Ritvo spoke at noon for the CHE Environmental History Colloquium on the topic of "Animals as History," touching on the issues of foot and mouth disease in Britain. At 4 p.m., she delivered a talk based on her upcoming book about the foundations of the Victorian environmental movement. Her talk was entitled: "The Dawn of Green: Manchester, Thirlmere, and the Victorian Environment."

On Saturday, September 20th, the CHE graduate students hosted a potluck and student meeting at Hoyt Park to discuss plans for the year ahead and potential projects we would like to sponsor. Ideas included incorporating as a registered student agency, movie nights, a trip to Horicon Marsh this fall, creating CHE t-shirts, and renewing the CHE Graduate Student Symposium next spring.

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     2007-2008 Academic Year

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Week of May 5-May 11, 2008

On Saturday, May 10th, the CHE Graduate Students in collaboration with Slow Food UW presented the Spring Place-Based Dinner, a dinner workshop that used food to explore cultural and landscape history. This year's dinner featured local foods, music, and information from the Driftless Area of Southwestern Wisconsin, where this semester's Place-Based Workshop took place.

Week of April 27-May 4, 2008

On Tuesday, April 29th, Richard Keyser, an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Research in the Humanities, gave a talk entitled "Common Rights? Conflicts over the Usage of Woodlands in Later Medieval France."

Week of April 21-April 27, 2008

On Wednesday, April 23rd, distinguished environmental historian Carolyn Merchant from the University of California, Berkeley, delivered a CHE colloquium on "Gender and Environmental History." In the afternoon, she also gave the Agroecology Spring Lecture on "Partnership with Nature." A small reception followed her talk and she was available to meet with students throughout the day. For a printable flyer for the event, click here.

Week of April 7-April 12, 2008

On Wednesday, April 9th, Buddy Huffaker, the executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the non-profit organization responsible for managing the Aldo Leopold Shack and its surrounding lands, joined CHE for a talk entitled, “Land, Health, Ethics: Interpreting Aldo Leopold’s Legacy in the 21st Century.”

On Saturday, April 12th, CHE presented the inaugural CHE Graduate Student Symposium. The event included an opening speech from CHE's own Arne Alanen, a full day of graduate student presentations, a keynote speech by University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point professor Greg Summers , and a casual closing reception. For the full schedule, click here. For a printable flyer, click here. We hope to make this successful symposium an annual event.

Week of March 31-April 6, 2008

On Wednesday, April 2nd, Rob Kohler, historian of American science and environment from the University of Pennsylvania presented a History of Science colloquium entitled "A Science of the Whole Environment: Wildlife Ecology."

Week of March 24-March 30, 2008

On Wednesday, March 26th, David Mladenoff of the Department of Forest Ecology and Management joined CHE to launch a discussion on the topic "What can historical information contribute to ecology?" David has been working for years to build an immense database of digitized historical records for Wisconsin ranging from the original land survey to the Bordner Survey maps of the 1930s to make possible quantitative and cartographic analyses of past vegetational change in ways that have never before been possible. To get a sense of his work, you can review his publications , and then peruse other pages on the rest of that web site.

On Thursday, March 27th, distinguished anthropologist Benjamin Orlove delivered a University Lecture entitled "Retreating Glaciers and Advancing Concepts: Considering Adaptation to Climate Change in Highland Peru." On Friday, March 28th, Professor Orlove also delivered a brown bag lecture to CHE in Bradley Memorial.

Week of March 10-March 16, 2008

This week, many members of CHE traveled to Boise, Idaho for the annual American Society for Environmental History (ASEH) conference. For more information on this year's conference, click here.

Throughout the week, Cynthia Mil Duncan, of the University of New Hampshire, presented a series of lecture on the topic "Poverty, Opportunity, and Place." On Tuesday, March 11, her lecture was "Worlds Apart: The Role of Politics, Class, and Culture in Shaping Opportunity in Poor Rural Communities." On Wednesday, March 12, "Place Matters: A Review of Poverty and Development Challenges in Amenity Rich Areas, Declining Resource Dependent Areas and Chronically Poor Regions." And on Thursday, March 13, she delivered a public lecture. This series was sponsored by the Havens Center Visiting Scholars Program and co-sponsored by the UW Institute for Research on Poverty and the Global Studies Program. For more more information or for recording of the talks, visit the Havens Center or download the flyer.

Week of March 3-March 9, 2008

On Wednesday, March 5th, Megan Raby delivered a paper entitled "'Birdskins Are Capital': Western Expansion and the Geography of Nineteenth-Century American Ornithological Collection." This was a practice talk for the American Society for Environmental History Conference in Boise, March 12-16.

On Friday, March 7th, 2008, historical geographer and environmental historian Craig Colten of Louisiana State University gave a special Friday brown-bag lunch for the CHE colloquium with the Geography Department's HERD (Human Environment Research Discussion). His title was "What Historical Geography and Environmental History Can Contribute to Our Understanding of Ecological and Cultural Resilience." In the afternoon, Colten delivered his public lecture for the Geography Department's Yi-Fu Tuan Lecture Series, on "Fighting Yesterday While Facing Tomorrow: New Orleans and Hurricanes." In this talk, he used New Orleans as a concrete case study for thinking about resilience in the face of technological and environmental systems whose rigidities make them vulnerable to extreme events like Hurricane Katrina.

Week of February 25-March 2, 2008

On Wednesday, February 27th, Steve Forman of W. W. Norton & Co. shared his thoughts on publishing with the colloquium, in a talk entitled "A Conversation about Book Publishing for Prospective Authors."

Week of February 11-February 17, 2008

On Wednesday, February 13th, Boston's University Jim McCann , an environmental historian of Africa, visited CHE, providing three opportunities for students and faculty to engage with him. In the morning, he met informally with graduate students and faculty during a drop-in session. At noon, he delivered the CHE colloquium on "Taytu's Feast: Food and Cuisine in Building the Nation." And in the afternoon, Professor McCann delivered his public lecture "Maize Cultivation and Malaria Transmission in Ethiopia: New Evidence and Unintended Consequences for Global Disease." See the flyer for the event here.

Week of January 28-February 3, 2008

On Wednesday, January 30th, Rachel Azima, a CHE graduate associate and member of the English department, delivered the semester's first colloquium, entitled, "'Weeds are Us': Weeds, Cosmopolitanism, and Biodiversity."

Week of November 26-December 2, 2007

On Tuesday, November 27th , there was a special meeting for CHE associates to discuss the CHE certificate and graduate associate budget allocation.

Week of November 19-November 25, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Week of November 5-November 11, 2007

On Wednesday, November 7th , we held a post-festival Colloquium Conversation: Lessons Learned from "Tales from Planet Earth," CHE's First Environmental Film Festival at 12:00 pm in 202/204 Bradley Memorial.

Week of October 29-November 4, 2007

On Wednesday, October 24th, the CHE Environmental History Colloquium was led by filmmakers Judith Helfand and Sarita Siegel on the subject: “Where Content Meets Intent: A Conversation about Environmental Film and Advocacy." Judith and Sarita spoke about their experience and challenges on the front lines turning visual stories on film into environmental action.

The environmental film festival of Nov. 2-4, Tales from Planet Earth, was a great success! There were over 3,000 audience members throughout the weekend--and about 1,100 on the opening night alone! Recordings of the introductory talks from the opening night are available online: Introductions and Bill McKibben's talk, Q&A with Bill McKibben.

The opening of the festival began on Friday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 pm at the Orpheum Theatre with a lecture by Bill McKibben on “The Nature of Hope.” McKibben’s talk was followed by the Madison premiere of Everything’s Cool at 7:45 pm at the Orpheum Theater.

With 22 films over three days, there was something for everyone. For a review of the schedule and program, visit our Tales from Planet Earth web site.

Week of October 22-28, 2007

On Wednesday, October 24th, Peggy Shepard, Executive Director and Co-Founder of West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT) spoke on “Environmental Justice, Health, and Sustainability: An Urban View” as part of the year’s Gaylord Nelson Lecture Series.

On Thursday, October 25th, Peggy joined us for an informal pizza lunch about her unique experiences as co-founder of WE ACT.

Week of October 15-21, 2007

On Tuesday, October 16th, we held our Opening Reception dedicating our new home in Bradley Memorial. The ceremony also provided an opportunity to unveil our visiting water color exhibit titled Nature/Human/Nature by artist Helen Klebesadel.

Week of October 8-14, 2007

On Monday, October 8th, Adam Rome, Associate Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University and former editor of Environmental History, gave a public lecture, “When Earth Day Mattered.” He spoke about the history of the event and how the first Earth Day, the biggest demonstration in U.S. history, was so powerful and offered lessons to challenges confronting the environmental movement today. Check out the flyer!

On Tuesday, October 9th, Professor Rome spoke at a special CHE Environmental History Colloquium.

On Thursday, October 11th, CHE hosted a free showing of Sarita Siegel’s films The Disenchanted Forest and The Beloved at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Sarita was a guest artist as part of the Fall '07 UW-Madison Arts Institute Judith Helfand Residency. Her film took audiences deep into the Bornean rainforest to follow the rehabilitation of ex-captive orangutans and contemplate the fluid boundaries between domestic and wild, human and animal, and nature and culture.