Huw Lewis-Jones, historian; Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professor
Huw Lewis-Jones is an award-winning historian of exploration, photo-editor and polar guide with a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He was a Fellow at Harvard University and Curator of both the National Maritime Museum in London and the Scott Polar Research Institute. He has travelled widely across the Arctic regions, also voyaging to the North Pole three times this past summer. His many books include Explorers’ Sketchbooks (2016), The Crossing of Antarctica (2014), The Lifeboat (2013), In Search of the South Pole (2011) and Ocean Portraits (2010). In 2015 he won the Leif Erikson History Award for his ongoing heritage advocacy. He lives in Cornwall, England.
Green College Special Lecture
IMAGINING THE ARCTIC: VISUAL CULTURES OF HEROISM AND EXPLORATION
Coach House, Green College, UBC
Tuesday, October 24, 5:00 pm, reception to follow
Fireside Chat, 8 pm, Piano Lounge Graham House
Throughout the nineteenth century the British public frequently ‘got lost’ in the Frozen North. Leading explorers were the celebrity figures of their day and they went to great lengths to convince their audiences of the merits of polar exploration, to persuade governments to finance ambitious proposals, and to bolster support for the Royal Navy. In theatres, in art, in verse and song, the achievements of explorers were promoted, celebrated and manipulated, whilst explorers themselves became the subject of huge attention. Whether an expedition was successful, or not, often depended as much upon what was imagined to have happened as to what actually occurred, far off beyond the edges of the map.Drawing from his new book Imagining the Arctic, Huw Lewis-Jones explores the culture and politics of Arctic exploration and the making of its heroes. Taking fresh perspectives on key figures, including Admiral Lord Nelson, Sir John Ross, Commander John Cheyne and Sir John Franklin, and the century’s greatest polar show—the Royal Naval Exhibition of 1891—he considers how and why a cult of polar exploration was developed, and brings the story into the present day.
Vancouver Institute Lecture
THE ART OF DISCOVERY: HOW EXPLORERS’ SKETCHBOOKS TRANSFORMED OUR VIEWS OF THE WORLD
Lecture Hall No. 2, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, UBC
Saturday, October 28, 8:15 pm
Explorers’ Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery and Adventure, by Huw Lewis-Jones and Kari Herbert, was published by Thames & Hudson in September 2016 and will be released in eight languages. Writing for the Spectator, veteran author Jan Morris praised the work as “a pictorial treasure box… a unique imaginative experience,” and celebrated nature writer Rob Macfarlane has described it as “a rich realm in which to wander, an archive into which to delve, a wunderkammer of wunderkammers—beautifully collected and curated, and magnificently produced.”
The Green Visiting Professors program was founded by UBC Honorary Alumnus Dr. Cecil Green and his wife Ida in 1972, to provide opportunities for UBC students and faculty and members of the wider local public to interact with outstanding scholars, scientists, artists, performers and intellectuals from around the world. Visiting Professors are now appointed by Green College. UBC faculty members wishing to nominate visitors under the program are invited to contact the Principal of the College, Dr. Mark Vessey: gc.principal@ubc.ca
If you wish to stay for dinner at Green College, please make a reservation by noon on the previous day at 604-822-0912 or kitchen@gcdining.ca $16 students $20 others.