Toulouse University 2 (Le Mirail) and the CNRS, with the support of the European Society for Environmental History (ESEH), l’Association des Journées Internationales d’Histoire de l’Abbaye de Flaran, and the FRAMESPA (UMR 5136), are organizing an inaugural summer school for rural and environmental history.

The course is divided into three parts: a first introductory section on theoretical underpinnings of environmental [...]]]> ICTA-UAB is organising a summer school for masters and doctoral students (20 hours of lectures, 2.5 ETCS) about the global movement for environmental justice and socio-environmental conflicts, which will take place nearby Barcelona, July 2nd – July 11th 2012

The course is divided into three parts: a first introductory section on theoretical underpinnings of environmental justice and conflicts, a second section presenting and discussing cases and dimensions of environmental conflicts (including climate justice, hydric justice, mining, oil and forest resources conflicts, and urban conflicts) and a third section on mechanisms to address and redress environmental injustice and inequalities.

On July 5th and 6th there will also be an International Workshop on Environmental Justice and Conflicts, organized around keynote presentations and three roundtables. The workshop will take place at La Pedrera, a building designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí in the Eixample district of Barcelona.

Course + Workshop fee: 350€
Workshop only, including materials and coffee breaks: 40€

Deadline for Application: April 30th 2012.
Please send CV + one-page cover letter to Julien.Brun[at]e-campus.uab.cat

For further information, you may download a full announcement in PDF format, check the website of the Summer School or email Isabelle.Anguelovski[at]uab.cat

The first international conference of the Estonian research project, ‘Baltic Food History’, is supported by the tandem cooperation for the advancement of environmental history in Eastern European and Baltic Studies, between KAJAK (Centre [...]]]> Turning Points in Baltic and Central East European Food History – Knowledge, Consumption, and Production in Changing Environments
Tallinn, 29th–31st August, 2012

The first international conference of the Estonian research project, ‘Baltic Food History’, is supported by the tandem cooperation for the advancement of environmental history in Eastern European and Baltic Studies, between KAJAK (Centre for Environmental History, Tallinn) and the Herder Institute in Marburg/Germany.

“Environmental history begins in the belly” (Donald Worster)

Food links people to their environments in the most direct way. Food history is therefore a central part of environmental history, linking external factors such as climate, soil, economy, and politics with the intimate environment of the body itself. (Trans-)cultural food-knowledge, production and consumption mutually shape each other in a constant process of transfor­mation.

Together with global changes (climate change, colonialism, industrialisation etc.), the con­ference will focus in particular on the specific regional characteristics of the Baltic countries and Central East Europe. This is all the more necessary since, despite the complex inter-ethnic composition, class structures and trade relations in the Baltic area and Poland, there have only been a few comparative studies made of the historical and trans-cultural food cul­ture of the region which draw upon the latest research in this field. The main focus of this international and interdisciplinary conference will be upon the continuities and discontinuities in Baltic food history and in contemporary Baltic food studies:

Possible topics are:
● Knowledge – Knowledge of food and food-cultures between cultural contact and the demarcation of boundaries
● Production – Food as an economic and political resource
● Exchange – Import and export of foodstuffs, transfer of knowledge, techniques and practices
● Consumption and self-sufficiency

This conference constitutes the first in a small series of conferences on environmental history which are being organised in cooperation with the Herder Institute in Marburg and the Insti­tute of History, Tallinn University. The aim of this series is, from a comparative perspective, to reach an appraisal of the state of current research on the environmental history of the Bal­tic region and Central Eastern Europe, and to draw impulses from this for further research. We therefore also welcome topics whose focus lies beyond the actual region itself, but which can still offer an important methodological contribution.

We will invite up to 15 academics to the conference. Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes in length. Young academics are encouraged to present their research projects in poster presentations of around 10 minutes in length.

The language of the conference will be English, but presentations may also be made in German. The organisers will cover the costs of accommodation in Tallinn and if necessary a proportional takeover of the travel costs after (please contact the organizers before).

A printable version of this CfP, in both German and English, is downloadable here.

Please send your abstracts (max. 500 words) to:
Heidi Hein-Kircher (heidi.hein-kircher [at] herder-institut.de) and Ulrike Plath (ulrike [at] utkk.ee).
The deadline for applications is April 15th 2012.

The workshop will take place on 19th to 20th April in Granada (Spain), at the Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios (calle San Jerónimo 17, Granada, Spain).

The programme will consist [...]]]> We would like to draw your attention to the forthcoming workshop entitled “II Spanish Environmental History Workshop”, organised by the Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios and University of Granada.

The workshop will take place on 19th to 20th April in Granada (Spain), at the Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios (calle San Jerónimo 17, Granada, Spain).

The programme will consist of one methodological workshop (Thursday 19), a discussion about current research groups (Thursday 19), and 8 papers (Friday 20) covering the following topics:

•         Authoritarian regimes and environment
•         Colonial history
•         Agricultural history and technology in South Europe and Latin America
•         Indigenous people and environmental perceptions
•         Social metabolism

Geneviève Massard-Guilbaud will be the keynote speaker on Thursday.

The discussion about the Spanish Network of Environmental History will be held on Friday.

The programme of the workshop can be downloaded from: http://ruedha.hypotheses.org/125

Please have a look at our new WEB SITE http://ruedha.hypotheses.org

We are seeking contributors for a workshop on Environmental History in Lusophone countries (Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Timor Leste, São Tomé and Príncipe) to be held in Coimbra (PT) in the last week of March 2012. We would appreciate any suggestions on possible [...]]]> Workshop: Environmental History in Lusophone countries, March 2012, Coimbra, Portugal

We are seeking contributors for a workshop on Environmental History in Lusophone countries (Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Timor Leste, São Tomé and Príncipe) to be held in Coimbra (PT) in the last week of March 2012. We would appreciate any suggestions on possible speakers and/or prospective participants. Graduate students in advanced stages of their dissertations are particularly welcome. The workshop will be in Portuguese and English, and we plan to publish the proceedings shortly after. Anyone interested in participating, or willing to help, may contact:

Stefania Barca (Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra): sbarca [at] ces.uc.pt

OR

Inês Amorim (University of Porto, Faculty of Arts, Department of History, Political and Internation Studies, Transdisciplinary Research Center: Culture, Space and Memory): inesamorimflup [at] gmail.com