HUMANITY & OTHER FORMS OF LIFE: ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIES OF THE WORLD
 
November 5, 2016
Georgetown University, Washington, DC
 
The Department of History at Georgetown University invites paper proposals from graduate students for a one-day conference on world environmental history. The conference seeks to bring together students from the disciplines of history, historical ecology, environmental archaeology, or other relevant fields who share common research interests in humanity’s relationship with the natural environment. Papers dealing with all themes in environmental history, from every world region, and during any time period are welcome. Those accepted will be grouped into three moderated panels, each followed by a roundtable discussion between presenters, commentators, and the audience. The conference aims to serve as an intensive training session where participating students present and receive comprehensive feedback on their ongoing work (e.g. dissertation chapters and journal articles) from senior scholars, become familiar with the latest research projects carried out in the paleo-environmental sciences, and interact and network with fellow students and faculty members.
 
Additional Information
 
Georgetown University will cover the costs of accommodation (two nights) for admitted applicants for the duration of the conference. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided on the day of the conference. Attendees are expected to cover their own transportation costs and other travel expenses.
 
Application Process and Deadlines
 
Interested students should submit an abstract (between 200 and 300 words) along with a brief curriculum vitae to Faisal Husain (fh204@georgetown.edu) by June 17, 2016. Successful applicants will be notified in early July and asked to submit a full version of their papers (double-spaced, between fifteen and thirty pages) by September 23 for pre-circulation to conference attendees and commentators.

Professor Dagomar Degroot has published three new articles at HistoricalClimatology.com and the Climate History Network homepage. 

In the first article, Dr. Degroot surveys the history of the website and network he cofounded, and introduces the team that will help him run both climate history initiatives. 

In the second article, Professor Ruth Morgan contextualizes droughts in western Australia and the western United States, in light of the deep environmental history of both regions. "Water cultures" predicated on stable climates, Dr. Morgan argues, have run up against the long-term climatic variability of American and Australian wests. 

In the third article, Dr. Tim Newfield, who will soon join us as a professor of environmental history, gives a history of the interdisciplinary scholarship surrounding the climatic cooling of the sixth century. Was the culprit a volcano, an asteroid, or something else? Dr. Newfield investigates.