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See the Table of Contents below ("In This Issue") and click on the article that you wish to read. When you finish an article, scroll back up to the Table of Contents and click on the next article that you wish to read.
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| President's Column |
Graduate Students and ASEH
This is the third summer of the DPDF (Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship) program, sponsored by the Social Science Research Council. It is an imaginatively conceived program, open to graduate students who are at the beginning of their dissertation research. Each year five interdisciplinary groups, consisting of twelve students and two directors, meet intensively for a few days at the beginning and at the end of the summer. During the intervening months, the fellowships support research in archives or in the field. Last summer I had the great pleasure of co-directing one of the seminars, on the topic of "Animal Studies."
Part of the reason for mentioning this seminar is to spread the word about an excellent opportunity. The five topics change annually, but, if past continues to be prologue, at least two of them each year are likely to be of interest to graduate students writing dissertations in environmental history. Other topics have included Water Sustainability, The Political Economy of Redistribution, The Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, Critical Agrarian Studies, and Revitalizing Development Studies.
Although "animal studies" and "environmental history" denote overlapping rather than congruent areas, my experience during and after the seminar emphasized two related aspects of our field and our society. One was the fruitfulness of discussions informed by the perspectives of different disciplines. History and anthropology were most heavily represented in my seminar, but it also included students from graduate programs in geography, film studies, biology, environmental science, and literature. About half of them (and not just the historians) presented papers at the last ASEH annual meeting in Tallahassee.
The other was the important role of graduate students in shaping the present, as well as the future, contours of our field. According to an informal count provided by the program chair, the participants in my seminar belonged to a substantial group: about two-thirds of the Tallahassee panels included at least one graduate student, and graduate students also contributed nearly half of the posters. Graduate students have also served on the Program Committee. This strong participation of younger scholars contributes energy (intellectual and otherwise) to our meetings-to the benefit of everyone who attends.
As is usually the case, however, with benefits come obligations. ASEH is a relatively young society in several senses. One reason for our large number of graduate student members - about one-third of our total - is that the society has actively attempted to include them. Our annual meetings are, in comparison with the median for scholarly conferences, relaxed and welcoming. In addition ASEH provides some modest tangible support: a special reception for graduate students and a few travel grants. ASEH is currently looking for students interested in assisting with a workshop on environmental history and the National Park Service that will take place at our meeting in Portland next spring; two paid positions are available. The Hal Rothman Research Fellowship also provides $1,000 to support dissertation research.
All of this is good, but it does not exhaust the possibilities. For example, the financial difficulties faced by many academic institutions make guidance about career opportunities and publishing opportunities increasingly important. The Executive Committee has recently authorized the creation of a graduate student liaison position. (Details of that position, as well as of the Portland workshop, can be found in the "Attention Graduate Students" section of this newsletter.) Among other things, the liaison will serve as a conduit for graduate students' ideas about how ASEH could better serve them. In addition, Lisa Mighetto, the ASEH Executive Director, and I will always be glad to hear such ideas directly. We can be contacted at
Harriet Ritvo, ASEH President |
| The Profession: Careers in History |
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ASEH's Portland conference will include a workshop on career options for environmental historians, featuring consulting, government agency work, museum projects, and more. We will provide a list of resources at the conference (and will post it for those who can't attend). Meanwhile, if you are interested in this topic, check out these websites:
From the National Council on Public History and the American Historical Association:
From Alexandra Lord, NCPH's program committee chair for the Portland conference (see her list of sources and additional websites):
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| Announcements |
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Owing to the generous donations of our members, ASEH now offers two annual fellowships:
Samuel P. Hays Research Fellowship
ASEH created this fellowship to recognize the contributions of Samuel P. Hays, the inaugural recipient of the society's Distinguished Scholar Award, and to advance the field of environmental history, broadly conceived. The fellowship provides a single payment of $1,000 to help fund travel to and use of an archive or manuscript repository. It is open to practicing historians (either academic, public, or independent). Graduate students are ineligible. A Ph.D. is not required. Submissions will be accepted June 1 - September 30, 2009, and the recipient will be selected and notified in December 2009 for funding in January 2010.
Applications should include a C.V. no more than three pages in length and a two-page statement (500 words) explaining the project and how the research funds will be used, and should be submitted electronically by September 30, 2009. Please send to Lawrence Culver, Chair, Samuel P. Hays Research Committee, at lawrence.culver@usu.edu
Hal Rothman Research Fellowship
The Hal Rothman Research Fellowship was created to recognize graduate student achievements in environmental history research in honor of Hal Rothman, recipient of ASEH's Distinguished Service award in 2006 and editor of Environmental History for many years. The fellowship provides a single payment of $1,000 for PhD graduate student research and travel in the field of environmental history, without geographical restriction. The funds must be used to support archival research and travel during 2010.
Students enrolled in any PhD program worldwide are eligible to apply. Applications will be accepted June 1 - September 30, 2009, and the recipient will be selected and notified in December 2009, for funding in January 2010. To apply, please submit the following three items:
1. A statement (maximum of 2 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt font) explaining your overall project and what specific research activities you will undertake with the research funds. You are encouraged to include a budget overview for the specific research activity indicating other sources of funding for amounts over $1,000 within the two-page limit.
2. A c.v. (maximum of 2 pages)
3. A letter of recommendation from your graduate advisor. This can be sent separately if desired.
All items must be submitted electronically by September 30, 2009. Files in pdf format are preferred, but Word-compatible formats are also acceptable.
Submit all files to: Dolly Jorgensen, Chair, Hal Rothman Research Fellowship at dolly@jorgensenweb.net
Additional donations would make these fellowships more secure. If you are interested in donating to either of these fellowships, please send your contribution to:
Dr. Mark Madison, Chief Historian
National Conservation Training Center
698 Conservation Way
Shepherdstown, WV 25443
ACLS Humanities E-Book Subscriptions Now Available
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Humanities E-Book (HEB) is pleased to make individual subscriptions available to ASEH members. Individual subscriptions are $35 USD for a 12-month, renewable, subscription. $15 of your subscription will come back directly to ASEH, and the balance will help sustain HEB as a resource for the entire scholarly community. The link below will bring you directly to the online purchase module at ACLS Humanities E-Book. You will need to choose the American Society for Environmental History from the pull-down menu and provide your membership number (available on your next issue of the journal Environmental History, which will be arriving soon). As an alternative, you can enter your cell phone number as a substitute in the registration form. (This number is only for a unique identifier and will not be shared or otherwise accessed.) To initiate a subscription, please visit: https://www.humanitiesebook.org/subscription_purchase.htmlThe subscription offers unlimited access to its collection of cross-searchable, full-text titles across the humanities and related social sciences https://www.humanitiesebook.org/titlelist.html. Titles have been selected and peer reviewed by ACLS constituent learned societies for their continued value in teaching and researching, and approximately 500 are being added each year. The collection includes both in- and out-of-print titles ranging from the 1880s to the current year. Titles link to publishers' websites and to online reviews in JSTOR, Project MUSE, and other sites. Individual subscriptions are ideal for those whose school might not yet have an institutional subscription to HEB or for individual members of a learned society who might not be affiliated with a subscribing institution. For inquiries email subscriptions@hebook.org
Research Position Open - Chicago Area
Sylvia Hood Washington, Research Associate Professor, IUC School of Public Health and editor, Environmental Justice, is looking to hire an advanced history student, one who has completed an MA and is preferably ABD, to support a larger history of environmental health research effort.
The ideal candidate would be familiar and comfortable doing archival research and have a strong interest in Chicago housing and the environment; as well as comfortable with legal and public health history.
This is an environmental history research effort but it is closely intertwined with public health and urban planning. Candidates with additional training in the health sciences is a bonus.
Salary DOE; position could last a year or more.
The successful candidate would be working for Environmental Health Research Associates, LLC, which is based in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Interested candidates should contact Sylvia at sewhood@ehra.us and sewhood@uic.edu.
Liza Piper, University of Alberta, has stepped down as ASEH's webmaster, after serving for several years in that capacity. Liza has been instrumental in the development and maintenance of our website. Her contibutions to ASEH have been invaluable and we are very grateful for her years of service. Thank you, Liza!
ASEH Website
ASEH is considering upgrading its website and adding content this fall and winter. Possibilities include additional teaching units and bibliographies. To participate in our poll asking whether you would find course outlines useful, see our website homepage (lower right corner) by clicking here. If you have ideas about our website, or if you would like to volunteer to work on our website, contact director@aseh.net
H-Environment Representative
Melissa Wiedenfeld, who served as the H-Environment representative to ASEH's executive committee, has stepped down. Melissa was one of the first H-Environment list editors - and she devoted years to developing this valuable resource. The H-Environment editors will soon select a new representative to ASEH's executive committee. Thank you, Melissa!
New H-Environment List Editors
H-Environment welcomes the following new list editors:
David Benac, Southeastern Louisiana University - Book Review Editor
Alix Cooper, SUNY Stony Brook - Web Editor
Thomas Wellock, Central Washington University - List Editor |
| Member News |
Environmental history has been widely recognized during the last several months: Thomas Andrews, who received ASEH's George Perkins Marsh Prize for the best book in environmental history this year, was also recently awarded a Bancroft Prize for his book, Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War (Harvard University Press) - a study of the 1914 massacre of striking coal miners in Colorado. Jared Farmer, State University of New York at Stony Brook, receive the Francis Parkman Prize from The Society of American Historians, for his 2008 book On Zion's Mount: Mormons, Indians and the American Landscape (Harvard University Press), which details how Mormon settlers in Utah endowed their new homeland with a spiritual geography - how they made themselves "native" in a strange land - and how their effort to confer meaning on their new dwelling place came at the expense of the Utes they displaced. Matthew Klingle, Bowdoin College, was selected by the Organization of American Historians to receive the 2009 Ray Allen Billington Prize for the best book in American frontier history, defined broadly to include the pioneer periods of all geographical areas and comparisons between American frontiers and others. His book, Emerald City: An Environmental History of Seattle (Yale University Press) explores the history of Seattle, Washington, and the importance of viewing nature, culture, cities and the environment, as they are interrelated. Ellen Stroud recently received tenure at Bryn Mawr College, where she teaches in the Urban Environmental Policy and Problems in the Growth and Structure of Cities Program. She also received a fellowship from the National Humanities Center in North Carolina. Congratulations Thomas, Jared, Matt, and Ellen!
Send items for "Member News" for future newsletters to director@aseh.net |
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Update on Portland Conference |
March 10-14, 2010
Attention: Call for Papers - Submissions due June 30, 2009. Click here for more info.
Located at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, Portland combines stunning scenery with an interesting built environment.
The conference will be held in the Portland Hilton Hotel downtown, near many restaurants, several historic districts, and a river walk along the Willamette (which includes spectacular views of Mt. Hood on clear days). Conference attendees can look forward to arguably the nation's best coffee, the greatest bookstore (Powell's), and some outstanding best jazz and blues music venues.
A city of parks, Portland includes substantial green areas and the largest urban forest in North America. The city has been called a laboratory for modern environmental city planning; it was rated America's "cleanest city" in 2006. The city's reputation is based in part on tackling difficult problems, including re-plumbing the city to clean up the Willamette River and addressing Superfund designation of polluted harbor regions. Portland offers conference attendees opportunities to visit and tour places where environmental remediation and planning are addressing today's important urban challenges.
In Portland, ASEH will meet simultaneously with the National Council on Public History (NCPH). ASEH will organize its own set of sessions, but all conference sessions and events will be open to all ASEH and NCPH attendees. Specific info. on the conference appears below.
Special Events
Floating seminar on Willamette River - a boat trip exploring Superfund sites and protected wild spaces, Wednesday, March 10
Evening reception in downtown Portland, Wednesday, March 10
Workshops
The following is a preliminary list:
1. Oral History, Wednesday, March 10. Sponsored by Center for Columbia River History and Northwest Oral History Association.
2. National Park Service and Environmental History (includes site visit to Columbia River Gorge and historic Columbia River Highway), Friday, March 12. Sponsored by National Park Service.
3. Careers in History (date not yet scheduled). Sponsored by National Council on Public History.
Field Trips
ASEH is meeting in Portland simultaneously with the National Council on Public History, which allows us to expand the field trip options. The following have been tentatively scheduled:
1. Guided bus tour of METRO's "Urban Growth Boundary," an inside view of Oregon's land use planning system
2. Birding at Sauvie Island on Columbia River
3. Columbia River & Bonneville Dam tour guided by staff of Northwest Power and Conservation Council - addressing dams, hydropower, and salmon issues
4. Historic architecture walking tour of downtown Portland
5. Green Buildings walking & public transportation tour of LEED certified buildings
6. Downtown Portland parks walking tour
7. Fort Vancouver & Cathalpotle Plankhouse - bus tour of Hudson's Bay Company fort and Columbia River Chinook archaeology site
8. Dam-removal and water resource/management tour east of Portland (Sandy River and Bull Run)
9. Bicycle tour of Willamette River & Johnson Creek corridor
10. Exploring agriculture and local food network
Hotel
The conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Portland (921 SW Sixth Ave.), near many restaurants, several historic districts, and a river walk. Rates: $137 (USD) / night, single or double. A limited number of student rooms are available for $119 (USD)/night, single or double. To make reservation, call 800.445.8667 and mention that this is for ASEH's conference (3-digit code "ASE). Click here for ASEH's online reservation page.
Travel Grants
Travel grants for those presenting at our Portland conference are available to students and low-income scholars. The application deadline is October 2, 2009. Click here for more information.
Speakers
Jack Ohman, political cartoonist for The Oregonian, will serve as banquet speaker on Saturday evening, March 13, 2010. Click here for more information on Ohman.
Samples of Jack Ohman's political cartoons, which often illustrate environmental issues:
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| ASEH Awards Submissions for 2009 - Second Notice |
This year ASEH's prize committees will evaluate submissions (published books and articles and completed dissertations) that appear between November 1, 2008 and October 31, 2009. Please send three copies of each submission (these must be hard copies, or paper copies) by November 6, 2009 to:
Lisa Mighetto
c/o Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program
University of Washington
1900 Commerce Street
Tacoma, WA 98402 |
| Attention Graduate Students |
| Funding Available from the National Park Service for Those Attending ASEH's Portland Conference
ASEH's Portland conference will include a workshop sponsored by the National Park Service, held on Friday, March 12, 2010. This event will include 6-7 speakers, a discussion session, and an afternoon site visit to the Columbia River Gorge and the historic resources along the Columbia River Highway. The objective is to explore the NPS in historiography and to discuss how environmental history can inform NPS management. This is a preliminary step toward forming a panel of environmental historians to analyze the mission of the NPS, environmental history, and public interpretation.
Currently we have funding from the NPS for two graduate students at $1,500 apiece to assist with workshop logistics and the publication that will follow (approximately 40 hours of labor for each student). This funding is intended to offset costs for attending the workshop in Portland, which is required. If you are interested,please submit the following materials by September 2, 2009:
- 2-page vita or resume
- 1-page statement demonstrating your interest in NPS history
Send the materials electronically to director@aseh.net
The two recipients will be notified by September 30, 2009. Note: Graduate students may apply for this and for a travel grant ($500) to ASEH's Portland conference, but cannot receive both, as our objective is to provide funding to as many people as possible. Graduate students outside the US are also welcome to apply.
 Columbia River Gorge
Funding for ASEH Graduate Student Liaison
Beginning in 2009, ASEH will offer a travel grant of $500 for a graduate student willing to serve as the liaison to the ASEH executive committee for one year. In February of this year, graduate student liaisons Merritt McKinney and Bradley Skopyk submitted a proposal to ASEH's executive committee, which included a formal process for selecting the liaison each year. ASEH's executive committee has approved the proposal. Accordingly, in the fall of 2009, a committee that includes Bradley, Merritt, and one executive committee member will select next year's liaison, who will serve from January - December 2010. Responsibilities include communicating with ASEH's graduate students and attending and participating in the executive committee meeting in Portland, Oregon in March 2010. Details on the application process will be available in early October 2009, after the travel grants for our Portland conference are awarded (students are not eligible to receive both a travel grant and the liaison funding). The new liaison will be named by December 2009. Watch for more details in our next newsletter. | |
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ASEH News is a publication of the American Society for Environmental History.
Officers:
- Harriet Ritvo, MIT, President
- John McNeill, Georgetown Univeristy, Vice President/President Elect
- Mark Madison, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Treasurer
- Ellen Stroud, Bryn Mawr College, Secretary
Executive Committee:
- Marcus Hall, University of Utah
- Paul Hirt, Arizona State University
- Nancy Jacobs, Brown University
- Tina Loo, University of British Columbia
- Gregg Mitman, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Linda Nash, University of Washington-Seattle
- Mark Stoll, Texas Tech University
Ex Officio, Past Presidents:
- Nancy Langston, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Stephen Pyne, Arizona State University
- Douglas Weiner, University of Arizona
Ex Officio, Executive Director and Editor, ASEH News:
- Lisa Mighetto, University of Washington-Tacoma
Ex Officio, Editor, Environmental History:
- Mark Cioc, University of California-Santa Cruz
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ASEH Annual Conference,
Portland, Oregon
March 10-14, 2010 |
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Deadline Fast Approaching - Call for Papers Due June 30, 2009. For more information, click here.
Travel Grants available - deadline October 2, 2009. For more information, click here.
Conference Hotel
Porltand Hilton, located downtown (921 SW Sixth Ave). Rates: $137/night, single or double (USD) - limited number of student rooms available for $119/night, single or double (USD). To make reservations, call 800.445.8667 and note that this is for the ASEH conference (3-digit code is "ASE"). Click here for ASEH's online reservation page.
Exhibiting and Advertising
Our Portland conference offers unique opportunities for visibility, as it will feature a joint book exhibit and combined conference program with the National Council on Public History. Click here for more information.
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ASEH Funding |
Updated Info. on Fellowships:
Click here to learn more about Samuel P. Hays Research Fellowship.
Click here to learn more about Hal Rothman Research Fellowship for PhD students (scroll down the page).
National Park Service Funding:
Stipends are available to 2 graduate students willing to assist with the workshop at ASEH's Portland Conference, Friday, March 12, 2010. For more information, click here. |
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Podcasts from ASEH's Tallahassee Conference
Now Available |
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Click here for more information. |
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World Congress of Environmental History |
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August 4-8, 2009
Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden
Click here for info. on this historic conference, including program, registration, lodging, and more.
Reception ASEH members attending the World Congress are invited to attend a reception on Thursday evening, Aug. 6. This reception will highlight the journals Environmental History and Water History. If you are attending the Copenhagen congress and have not yet signed up for this reception, please contact Linda Laugesen at ll@bdp.dk
Attention Authors and Presses!
ASEH is organizing a cooperative table for the book exhibit area at the World Congress. Contact Lisa Mighetto at director@aseh.net if you are interested in signing up.
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ASEH News |
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This newsletter is a quarterly publication of the American Society for Environmental History. If you have questions, or if you would like to submit an article or announcement, contact Lisa Mighetto, editor, at
director@aseh.net
The deadline for the fall issue is September 9, 2009.
Portland images courtesy Mike Houck, Lisa Mighetto, and Christopher Thomas | |
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