Convenor: , Department of Geography

Dates: Sept. 19, Oct. 17, Nov. 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 23, Jan. 16, Feb. 2, Feb. 13, Feb. 29, Mar. 12, Mar. 19, Apr. 16

Reflecting the harsh climate, thin soils and generally forbidding character of the vast northern territory that is Canada, it has often been said that the history of this country is inescapably environmental. This lecture series engages the great drama of human interaction with this challenging realm, reflecting on the transformation of the northern half of the continent through time as a foundation for sensible engagement with the environmental challenges facing Canadian society in the twenty-first century.
Each lecture will address one of three central themes – human activities and Canadian nature; nature’s influence on the nature of Canada; and ideas and nature in Canada – and reflect upon how the subject of the lecture has affected/changed “the nature of Canada”.

This Green College Interdisciplinary Series receives additional support from NiCHE (Network in Canadian History and Environment); Brenda and David McLean Chair in Canadian Studies (UBC); Canadian Studies Program (UBC); Dean  of Arts (UBC); Departments of History and Geography (UBC).

Watch the Calendar of Events for full descriptions of talks. All talks are held at Green College unless stated otherwise.

Round-table discussion of the project
Featuring UBC participants: Graeme Wynn (Migrations; Environmentalism); Tina Loo, (High Modernism); Matthew Evenden (War); Julie Cruickshank (Indigenous Ecological Knowledge)
5-6:30 pm, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011

Disease and the Nature of Canada
Paul Hackett, University of Saskatchewan
5-6:30 pm, Monday, Oct. 17, 2011

Farming and the Nature of Canada
Colin Coates, Director, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, York University
5-6:30 pm, Monday, Nov. 7, 2011
Geography building, room 130

Managerialsm and the Nature of Canada
Dean Bavington, Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland
5-6:30 pm, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011

Energy and the Nature of Canada
Steve Penfold, Department of History, University of Toronto
5-6:30 pm, Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Geography building, room 130

Size and the Nature of Canada
Alan MacEachern, Department of History, University of Western Ontario
5-6:30 pm, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012

Gender and the Nature of Canada
Joanna Dean, Department of History, Carleton University
5-6:30 pm, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2011
Geography building, room 130

Wilderness Culture and the Nature of Canada
Claire Campbell, Department of History, Dalhousie University
5-6:30 pm, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012

Communications and the Nature of Canada
Ken Cruikshank, Department of History, McMaster University
5-6:30 pm, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012
Geography building, room 130

Cities and the Nature of Canada
Michelle Dagenais, Département d’histoire, Université de Montréal
5-6:30 pm, Monday, March 12, 2012

Fish and Fur and the Nature of Canada
Stephen Hornsby, Director, Canadian Studies Center University of Maine, Orono
5-6:30 pm, Monday, March 19, 2012
Geography building, room 130

Climate [Change] and the Nature of Canada
Liza Piper, Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta
5-6:30 pm, Monday, April 16, 2012