Call for Papers

Life along the River: Interactions between Human Societies and Valley Environments in the Convergence Zone of the Inner Asian Highlands, 1600s–1950s

The convergence zone of the Inner Asian Highlands consists of the present-day parts of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in western China. It lies at the intersection of the Himalayan, Mongolian, Loess and Yungui plateaus, where the upper Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong and Salween rivers and their tributaries flow among towering mountains and segment the region into countless long valleys. Different “natural systems” take place in these relatively parallel valleys along elevational gradients. Historically, these valleys sat on the overlapped margins of dominant centers of power. They often served as political, economic and cultural corridors between China proper and Inner Asia. Meanwhile, the valleys have been the homelands of many remarkably distinct ethnic groups. Local riverine settlers experienced a series of multi-directional political integrations and economic and cultural exchanges. Fluidity has been a constant marker of the ways of life in these valleys.

The conference will bring together scholars to discuss the interactions between the culturally diverse inhabitants and valley habitats in the meeting place of the Inner Asian Highlands. It aims to explore how different societies in the long “corridors” between Inner Asia and China proper have adapted to, negotiated with, transformed and interpreted their environments. The participants will examine how the natural environment has shaped “human systems,” and delve into various cultural groups’ interactions with weather, land, water, vegetation, animals, disaster, disease and so on along these valleys. The conference also seeks to understand this frontier zone as a center onto itself by employing an approach that combines anthropological fieldwork with historical and environmental studies.

We welcome proposals for 20-minutes presentations. Please send your working title and abstract of 300 words and a short bio to Marnyi Gyatso (Email: lifealongtheriver2021@gmail.com). 

Applicants will be informed on the outcome before March 1, 2021.

Due to the uncertainties with Covid-19, the conference will be held on-line from New York. There will be no registration fee.

Conference Organizers:
The Modern Tibetan Studies Program
The Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Marnyi Gyatso (gyatsoyang@gmail.com)
Eveline Washul (esy2103@columbia.edu)

Publication Opportunities:
We will publish a special journal issue on the conference theme in 2022. We also plan a proposal for an edited volume with one of the leading academic publishers.

Timeline: 
Deadline for the Submission of Abstracts: January 31, 2021
End of Review Process: February 20, 2021
Deadline for the Submission of Papers: June 15, 2021
Conference: July 22–23, 2021
Publication: Fall 2022

Environmental History Week is an international celebration of environmental history, organized by environmental historians of all stripes to foster scholarly collaboration, academic research, teaching and public awareness of environmental history.

Please join us by organizing an event in your area, and sending information to us so we can publicize it on the Environmental History Week events calendar on the ASEH.org website.You can help diversify environmental history by inviting colleagues, scholars, and community-members who do not normally attend environmental history conferences to participate.Find collaborators by posting on H-Environment, other H-Net lists and social media channels listed on the Environmental History Week website.

Environmental History Week events can take many forms.In person, face-to-face events could be all-day mini-conferences; environmental history lectures on a campus or at a public library or museum; student presentations at a student research symposium; film series with audience discussions; field trips or tours, or hands-on projects in collaboration with non-profits in your area; or a teacher training program for local K-12, community college, or graduate students.Digital events could be virtual conferences conducted on an online, video conference platform; streamed films with online discussions; self-guided field trips; or a virtual museum exhibit. Programs for all audiences are welcome.If you have other ideas for events, please share them.

Environmental History Week replaces the 2021 American Society for Environmental History conference in Boston.We are very grateful to the Local Arrangements Committee for all their work.ASEH's annual meeting will return in 2022 in Eugene, Oregon; in 2023 ASEH will meet in Boston.In the meantime, Environmental History Week will provide rich opportunities for intellectual exchange, and for engaging the public, K-12 teachers, and scholars in adjacent fields in an era when global pandemic makes a large, international conference risky and unwise.We also hope that Environmental History Week will generate models for low-carbon alternatives to large academic conferences.

Deadline for proposals: 15 January 2021.

After three very successful international meetings (in Copenhagen, Denmark, Guimarães, Portugal, and Florianopolis, Brazil) the fourth World Congress for Environmental History isscheduled for 2024.

The International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations (ICEHO) is now calling for proposals from parties interested in hosting the 2024 conference, preferably in July or August of that year.

The deadline for proposals is 15 January 2021.

We encourage proposals from any part of the globe. Proposals should come in the first instance from individuals or organizations affiliated with universities or scholarly societies. While the support of local convention and visitors’ bureaus may become important once the site is proposed and under consideration, the proposal should not come directly from the convention and visitor’s bureau or events services.

If you are interested or if you would like to submit a notice of intent, please contact ICEHO President Graeme Wynn at wynn@geog.ubc.ca or ICEHO Secretary Alexandra Vlachos at alexandra.vlachos@hist.unibe.ch for further details and a copy of the conference guidelines, before August 2020 if possible.

We aim to finalize the site selection by July 2021.

Please keep in mind that hosting a conference that will likely attract 500-750 delegates requires substantial effort and time as well as significant institutional support and fundraising, but it is also a terrific opportunity to showcase local/ national scholarship, to advance environmental awareness and to promote local initiatives.

Department: History Department, University of California, Santa Cruz
Position: Assistant Professor, History of Southeast Asia
Deadline: November 5, 2019

The History Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) invites applications for a position in the history of Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on environmental history, at the Assistant Professor (tenure-track) level. All Southeast Asia geographical and topical subfields welcome. In addition to environmental history, the department is particularly interested in expanding offerings in imperialism and postcolonialism, gender, labor, ethnicity, coastal connections, trade and political economy, and migration and diaspora. The successful candidate will also work with the newly founded Center for Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions.

The successful candidate must demonstrate the ability to teach undergraduate and graduate courses focused on Southeast Asia. The position carries a five-course-equivalency workload, which normally means teaching four courses over three quarters and carrying out other academic and professional service responsibilities. Applicants will be expected to conduct research, advise and mentor graduate and undergraduate students, and contribute to department, university, and professional service.

UC Santa Cruz is a Hispanic-Serving Institution with a high proportion of first-in-family undergraduate students. We welcome candidates who understand the barriers facing women and minorities who are underrepresented in higher education careers (as evidenced by life experiences and educational background), and who are concerned about equity and diversity with respect to teaching, mentoring, research, life experiences, or service towards building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment.

For more information, please see the following Job Ad file.

An obituary written by Joy Hughes for the funeral of J. D. Hughes dated on February 16, 2019.

“Johnson Donald Hughes was a gentle soul who loved nature, animals, good wine and good company. His parents, Johnson Hughes and Vannelia Anna Blanchfield brought him into the world in Santa Monica, California on June 5, 1932. He lived 86 years, a long, happy and distinguished life. During his rapid decline due to leukemia, he was surrounded by family during his last days and hours and blessed with love, music, and prayers. His little dog Ivy was by his side. He reached the end of his life early in the morning of February 3, 2019 at home in Lake Worth, Florida.

He received his bachelors in Botanical Genetics at UCLA in 1954, was designated Alumni Fellow at Boston University School of Theology in 1957, and attained a Ph.D. in History at Boston University Graduate School in 1960. He taught at the University of Denver for 40 years, attaining its highest honor — Distinguished University Professor. Don was one of the founding members of the American Society of Environmental History. He authored and edited many numerous books and scholarly papers in his field. As part of his research he traveled the world to every continent (besides Antarctica) and is remembered by friends, colleagues, and students throughout the world. After his 2007 retirement he lived in Princeton, New Jersey and Lake Worth, Florida.

Don worked as a seasonal Ranger / Naturalist at the Grand Canyon, where he met the love of his life Pamela Louise Peters in 1963. She filled his days with delight - the sound of her music, beautiful dance, delicious food and deep conversation. They were married 54 years until the end of his life.  He is survived by his daughters Joy Vannelia Hughes and Melissa Jane Hughes and his five grandchildren Talenyn, Johnathan, Sorrel, Morgan, and Carter. His younger sister Jane passed away in 2005.

Don was ordained as a minister in the United Methodist Church in 1957. He often officiated at weddings and would give an Earth Day sermon each year. Late in life he joined the Unitarian Universalists. During his last nights he had dreams that he was riding off on a horse along the rim of the Grand Canyon, and he was dancing all over the world. His spiritual home was the natural world - if you want to find Don, listen closely to the wind in the great Redwoods of California, the gorges of the Grand Canyon, or the high plateaus of the Rockies.”

学术内外忆休师
梅雪芹
（清华大学历史系，北京）

休师，是美国环境史学家唐纳德·休斯（J. Donald Hughes）在我心中的称谓；对休师的悼念与追忆，伴随着我的己亥猪年春节，因为2月4日大年三十午餐刚过，就从学生朋友的微信中得知休师仙逝的噩耗。其实，之前一周多的时间也即1月26日，休师大女儿乔伊（Joy）发邮件给王利华老师和我还有我以前的一个学生，告知她父亲病重的信息。我还一直在为休师祈祷，期待他又一次战胜病魔，根本没想过他会走得那么快。

时值春节，我在安徽故乡陪伴父母。为了不影响家人过节的情绪，对休师的追忆只能暂时搁在心底。这样，除了通过“绿色公众史学”推出“读史悼念”系列文章外，一直没抽出时间写点什么来缅怀他。2月12日接到东亚环境史协会（Association for East Asian Environmental History, AEAEH）秘书刘晓芸女士的邮件，说协会会长刘士永老师想请我协助撰写一篇简短的纪念文，将刊登于东亚环境史协会网站，以纪念休斯先生长年对东亚环境史协会的支持与参与。我看到这封邮件后毫不犹豫，立刻想到这样一个题目，试着回忆与休师交往并向他学习的点点滴滴，以此正式缅怀他，纪念他。

我对休师的了解，是从阅读和翻译他的著作开始的。早在2004、2005年，我开始阅读他的《潘神的劳苦》、《世界环境史》等著作，那时还仅仅停留在对其书本内容的学习阶段，尚没有直接接触和交流。2007年2月，我在日本横滨国立大学作客座教授期间，有一天接到时任北京大学出版社编辑的岳秀坤先生的邮件。他介绍说，北大出版社有一个系列图书，侧重史学方法和史学史著作的引进，叫“历史学的实践丛书”，已经出了《法国史学革命》等数种。最近新觅到一个选题，J. Donald Hughes的What is environmental history?，英国Polity出版社2006年的新书，篇幅很小，正文120页，问我有无兴趣译这本书。我随即回复说，Hughes的书我读过一些，但你说的这本新书还没有看到。我下学期给研究生上《环境史研究导论》课程时会介绍休斯的研究成果，这样就可以将这本小书列进去，所以，还要感谢你。但目前，课题研究任务太重，而且正带着研究生一起翻译《大象的退却》，实在忙不过来。因此，你说的这个翻译就不能再承担了。

不过，没过多久，我一开始阅读What is environmental history?就立即改变了主意，并主动联系秀坤，表示乐意接受这部著作的翻译工作，还及时对这项工作做了初步的安排。之所以如此，主要是因为这部著作的非凡价值所致。当然，那时我还只是着眼于自己主持的课题以及准备开设的课程来考虑的。

我那时主持的课题是《环境史研究与20世纪中国史学》，作为教育部人文社会科学重点研究基地——北京师范大学史学理论与史学史研究中心2006年度的重大项目而提出；准备开设的课程则是上述的《环境史研究导论》。为课题研究以及课程教学的顺利开展，旅日期间我广泛搜集相关书籍和文献资料，休师的多部著作自然在列。开始阅读What is environmental history?之后，我认识到，这本书虽然篇幅不大，但为全面、系统地了解环境史提供了重要的指导，因此，是环境史研究的尚不多见的入门书，正如许多评论一致认为的那样。就我的课题研究和课程教学工作的开展而言，这样的著作更具有窥一斑而见全豹的作用，因此不能不下力气咀嚼、消化和吸收。

这部著作的翻译经历，我已在《什么是环境史》译后记中有所交待。这里重又提起，是作为自己如何与休师结下学缘的最为关键的一步而言的。回想起来，这不仅仅是翻译和精读一本书，而是寻觅和结识一位良师益友。这位良师益友不仅在翻译过程中提供了及时、便利的帮助，而且在拙译出版后一直给与多方面的关照，以至我们之间的学缘和情谊跨越时空，日臻醇厚。

就这样，休师成为了唐纳德·沃斯特（Donald Worster）之外引领我深入环境史的又一位导师，我也在心中一直尊称他为休师。2008年9月，休师应邀前来北京，到我的母校即我那时的工作单位北京师范大学讲学。犹记得，那年9月21日去首都机场T3航站楼接他的情景。虽未谋面，但我一眼就认出他来了，这是因为他那顶帽子醒目地标识了他，所以他常说那顶帽子是他的Trade Mark。

那一次，是休师和师母Pam一道头一回来北京，他们在这里呆了一周。期间，休师围绕环境史作了三场讲座，分别是：（1）环境史与旧史学（Environmental History and the Older History）；（2）环境史的三个维度（Three Dimensions of Environmental History）；（3）环境史涉及的现在和将来的问题（Present and Future Issues in Environmental History）。休师的讲座产生了不小的影响，除北师大一些院系的老师、同学聆听了他的讲座，还有北京大学、中国人民大学、南开大学、中国社会科学院世界历史研究所等高等院校和科研院所的学者、学生前来听讲、交流。不仅如此，休师在北京高水平讲学的消息很快传回美国。10月15日，沃斯特的高足马克·赫尔西（Mark Hersey）来邮件说，我希望你和你的学生喜欢9月下旬唐纳德·休斯教授的出访；他毫无疑问设定了高标准，我会尽最大的努力来达到。因为那一年我也请马克前来交流，他如约于12月中旬来京。在准备讲座的过程中，他以休师为榜样，认真准备讲稿，努力提升交流的水平和效果。这从一个方面反映了休师在环境史新生代学人中的威望，以及所受到的敬重。

来访之前和来访期间，我还就很多问题向休师请教，尤其是就“Environmental history”和“Eco-history”两个术语问题请教他，他每每都清晰地予以回答。就这两个术语而言，在休师看来，它们属于同义词；当然，也有秉持环境史只是“环境的历史”（the history of the environment）的观点，这使它更具自然科学而非历史研究的色彩。他个人习惯使用“Environmental history”，是因为该研究在美国学者中兴起之初大家通常用这一名称。那个时候，在英文中Eco-history很可能听上去更时髦，但不那么专业。他还强调要同等关注“Environmental history”中蕴涵的文化和自然，以及这一研究所包括的社会科学、人文学科以及自然科学（包括生态学）的要素。休师对这个问题的认识也影响了我，并成为了我坚持使用“环境史”概念的一个原因。

这次来访，包括来访前的沟通和准备工作，给休师留下了颇为深刻、良好的印象。当时正赶上了北京即将举办奥运会的盛事。因为很快要出访北京，所以休师和师母更加关注这届奥运会；8月11日休师还特别来邮件告诉我，他们观看了北京奥运会的开幕式，其表演的规模、美感和技术的卓越性令他们十分惊讶；北京奥运会将是一个真正具有重大历史意义的事件。开幕式过后，他们一直在欣赏体育比赛，特别是游泳和体操；他们最为期待的是跳水比赛——那是他们特别喜欢的项目。在这样的观赏和期待之后，他们来到了北京。

来访期间，除了学术讲座和交流并游览鸟巢、大栅栏、颐和园、长城等新旧著名景点外，我还在我的闺蜜、中国人民大学外文学院谢江南教授的帮助下，安排休师和Pam拜访了人大国剧研究中心，听取该中心执行主任、中国京剧院国家一级演员孙萍老师对京剧和我国乐器的讲解，还了解了孙老师如何积极实践和宣传京剧艺术，使之成为促进东西方文化交流之瑰宝的一些经历。此外，我和江南还陪他们到长安大戏院欣赏了旦角经典折子戏。拜访人大国剧研究中心并欣赏京剧这两项活动，是应休师的提议为照顾Pam而特别安排的。我在前期为他们来访做准备过程中特别问及他们有什么爱好，休师告诉我，Pam是音乐老师，也善于作曲并喜欢各种乐器，包括中国的民乐和乐器。我于是做了特别的安排，以满足他们的爱好。我想，这也是让外国友人更好地接触和了解我国传统文化的良机。

如上所述，这次来访给休师留下了良好的印象，因此回国后第二天，他便写邮件告诉我，非常感谢在北京期间受到的盛情款待；一切都很好，学生好，参观有趣，食物味美，住宿舒适。他还表示在访问期间学到了很多东西。希望我能在他准备《什么是环境史》第二版时帮助他了解中国环境史研究的学术信息；也希望从今往后能保持联系。休师的邮件反馈中肯定不乏溢美和客套之词，但也足见他对这次来访的感受。此后，我们的确一直保持着联系，还相约下一年参加在丹麦召开的第一届世界环境史学大会（The First World Congress of Environmental History, WCEH）。我也及时将休师的一篇论文也即一次演讲稿译了出来（《环境史的三个维度》，刊发于《学术研究》2009年第6期），以飨方兴未艾的我国环境史学界。

2009年8月4日，休师在Pam的陪伴下出席了第一届世界环境史学大会，我和我的一些朋友、学生也都参加了这一盛会。8月6日下午当我和我的学生按时来到我们参与的讨论小组时，只见休师和师母已经坐在了那里，这让我顿时感受到了莫大的支持。大会期间，来自我国大陆和台湾地区以及在美国留学的我国学生有一个小聚会，由刘翠溶先生主持，商讨成立东亚环境史学会事宜。两个月后的10月，东亚环境史协会在刘翠溶先生的领导下发起成立。休师也积极参与东亚环境史协会的成立活动，见证了东亚地区各路环境史研究者如何聚集力量的情形。

与休师更深入、广泛的接触和了解，得益于2011年秋季学期他和师母的第二次来访。坦诚地说，这一次请他来，并非早就计划而是临时起意的结果。当然，事出有因。2011年春季学期快要结束的时候，北师大研究生院下发聘请海外名师讲学通知，为的是扩大国际交流以提升研究生培养水平。但通知规定，一个星期之内就得上报聘请计划。这个通知来得突然、急促，接到通知的第二天也即7月1日我便与休师联系，询问他是否愿意并可能在秋季学期前来讲学。当天他就回复了我的邮件，告诉我，我的邀请和讲课设想非常好；当时，他正在芬兰的图尔库（Turku）参加欧洲环境史学会（European Society for Environmental History, ESEH）的年会，答应不久回美国之后跟Pam商量，看看她能否全程陪同来京，还表示无论如何他都会来的。没等多久，他就报来了详细的讲学计划。我很快上报学校，一周内得到了批准，不出半个月就落实了邀请函等相关事宜。

有意思的是，这次来访之前，休师和师母还报了普通话速成强化学习班，每天都努力学习中文，希望他们再次来北京的时候能听懂一点点，说上一点点，也期待能读懂一点点常用的字词。他们还感到中文学习很有意思，并且用拼音写道“Hen hao!”这反映了休师对再次来北京交流的重视程度及其欣喜的心情。

2011年9月11日休师携师母如约前来，开启了为期一个半月的环境史教学。这次来，正赶上中秋，我们同门同学和休师夫妇在北师大东门御马墩聚餐，一块儿度过了一个欢乐愉悦的中秋佳节。随后，略事休息，休师即开始了教学工作。由于选课人数较多，上课地点临时改到了教七楼401教室。前来听课的除了北师大历史、哲学、生物、环境等几个院系的部分研究生和教师，还有北京大学、北京林业大学、南开大学等高校的学生，以及社科院世界史所、国土资源部和人大环资委的相关研究与工作人员。这一次，休师系统地讲授环境史，从环境史的理论与方法到世界环境史专题，有点有面，兼顾理论和实践。课程结束后，每一个选课的同学都写了总结，大家纷纷表示深受其益，有的还说休师在他们心中播下了环境史的种子。后来，我们翻译了休师的一篇讲稿，即《新奥尔良的发展：一部环境灾难史》，写了一篇相关分析性论文《环境灾难史研究的方法与意义——基于“新奥尔良的发展：一部环境灾难史”的思考》（均刊发于《学术研究》2012年第6期），以便有志于环境史研究的学界朋友更好地了解其学术志趣和现实关怀。

休师的这次来访交流，活动满满。除了每周五下午的环境史课程教学外，这期间的10月14日，他和Pam参加了美国环境史学家苏珊•福莱德（Susan Flader）在北师大宣讲的《绿光》（Green Fire，利奥波德传记片）欣赏专场；10月16到17日参加了北师大历史学院与北京市历史学会联合举办的“2011年史学理论与史学史国际学术研讨会”；之后不久，他还出席了高国荣先生在中国社会科学院世界史所主持召开的环境史会议。10月23到29日，我们还一同前往台北，参加了在“中央研究院”举办的东亚环境史协会成立大会暨第一届东亚环境史学术研讨会。每一次活动，休师都是全程参加，全神灌注，有时还作大会主题发言；在东亚环境史协会成立大会期间，他主持了一场圆桌会议。此外，他顺访了清华大学、首都师范大学以及广西师范大学，到那些学校讲学、游览。他还抽出时间与我的朋友、北师大生物学院的刘定震教授畅聊，切磋他们同样出自的生物学及生态学领域的一些问题。这些活动，充分地体现了休师倾注于学术的热忱。而那时，他将自己正在审读的马立博（Robert Marks）的China: Its Environment and History书稿悉数发给我，好让我先读为快；甚至在国庆节假期，帮我修改参加东亚环境史会议的论文，这些举动更是让我感动不已。

记得那段时间，北京的天气十分好，白云悠悠，秋高气爽。因此，除了讲学交流外，休师和Pam也欣然接受安排，兴致勃勃地参观、游玩。我们曾一道从动物园乘游船，溯河而上前往颐和园，边赏景边了解与河岸景观相关的许多故事；还驱车前往凤凰岭，感受京郊青山碧岭的神韵。当看见龙泉寺门前两株苍劲的翠柏时，休师跟我解释说，看见那两棵古柏扭曲的程度，即可以想见它们经年累月中承受并顶住了多么大的风力。他和Pam对这两棵翠柏以及寺内两棵粗壮、婆娑的银杏树非常感兴趣，并从多个角度反复拍照留念。由此，我得以了解他们俩的一个共同爱好——两人各自拿着同款相机，每每对着同一处景点各自拍照，日后一同整理，加以比较，并编辑成册。我至今保留着他们制作的精美影集，其中许多照片都是双双对对的，包括他们在京师大厦公寓房的窗口往四周拍的一些风景照，成为了多年前的那个秋季北京也曾天蓝地洁的标记。

休师的第二次来访确实在很多方面让我和我的学生对他有了深入的了解。对同学们来说，他们不仅认真听他的课，看他的书，而且为他那雄浑、深沉的男中音倾倒——从台北回来后的第二天也即他们回国前夕，我在世界近代史教研室举办了一个Party，有同学搬来了电子琴，带来了短笛，Pam弹奏，休师演唱，那幅琴瑟和鸣的画面深深地印刻在了我的脑海。记得休师当时情不自禁地给我们讲起他的罗曼史——他年轻时的某个暑期考察时如何偶遇Pam，那个姑娘如何成为他一生的挚爱。他们一生中的大部分时光总是相伴左右，包括一同出席国际、国内大部分环境史会议，以至美国环境史学界有人戏称他们为“联体婴”——见到休师就能见到Pam，Pam还被休师自己戏称为业余环境史学家。这种伉俪情深的境界，恐怕也是休师优良学养和人品的间接反映。我们有同学热情地为他们取了中国名字——润土和盼木，一些同学亲切地称他们为爷爷、奶奶。第二年5月底，同学们为休师专门定做了条幅，还买来师大的体恤衫纷纷签上名，赶在6月5日休师生日前夕快递到了他在普林斯顿附近的家里，以贺寿。

按计划，休师和Pam准备10月31日启程回国，但由于美国那边天气的原因，他们所订航班临时取消，并改签到11月2日，这样，他们在京师大厦多住了两天。他们回美国后不到一个月，又出访印度，在加尔各答的一所大学讲学交流。这是Pam来邮件告诉我的，她在邮件中还特别比较了印度的那所大学和北师大接待外国学者的食宿条件，让我对我国大学办学条件的改善自豪了好一阵子。

与休师和Pam再一次见面，是在2014年7月共同出席第二届世界环境史学大会。这届大会的举办地在葡萄牙的历史名城，素有“葡萄牙的摇篮”之称的吉马良斯（Guimarães），主题为“环境史的形成或发展”（Environmental History in the Making）。会前准备过程中，休师根据大会的主题，组织了“环境史创始亲历”（Present at the Creation）专题讨论组，邀请欧洲大陆、英国（也代表非洲）、拉丁美洲、印度等地区和国家的多位学者参加，介绍和谈论本地区、本国环境史兴起、发展的历程和特色；我也应邀参加了他组织的这个讨论组。

一开始，休师想让我负责调研和介绍亚洲环境史研究，我深感责任重大，难以胜任。几经商量，我答应负责梳理和介绍中国大陆环境史领域兴起的轨迹，并谈了自己对环境史治史原则的理解，这得到了休师的赞同。那个场合，我在增强对很多地区和国家的环境史研究状况了解的同时，也大胆向国际环境史学界同仁发布了有关环境史的“上下左右”看历史的主张。记得很多人出席了7月10日的这场小组讨论会，并参与到提问、交流之中。大会过后不久，休师即通过邮件告诉本小组各位宣讲者，“你们的报告很周到，相互补充得很好；正如你们已经知道的，我们随后收到了许多与会者的赞赏评论”。同时，也有几位国际友人跟我进一步讨论环境史研究的具体理论和方法问题，包括索要拙文“从环境的历史到环境史”——英文版《中国史学前沿》（Frontier of History in China, 高等教育出版社出版） 2007 年第 3 期刊出。我想，会上的赞赏评论和会后的进一步交流，很大程度上得益于休师的国际学术声誉和人脉。

休师不仅帮助了我个人和我指导的许多硕士生、博士生，而且还鼎力支持和推动着我们所在的东亚地区环境史研究的发展。上文提及，他是东亚环境史学者团体诞生的见证人。不仅如此，他更是东亚环境史发展的参与者，迄今为止东亚环境史协会举办的四届年会他全都参加了。除第一届主持圆桌会议讨论外，其余三届皆安排了主题演讲。2013年第二届他演讲的题目是《可持续帝国：一个矛盾的形容吗？》（Sustainable Empire: An Oxymoron?）；2015年第三届他演讲的题目是《东、西方边界与镶嵌图：环境史上的景观状态》（Borders and Mosaics, East and West: Landscape Organization in Environmental History）；2017年第四届他演讲的题目是《东、西方环境史中的人新世：人证与自然力的对比》（The Anthropocene in Environmental History, East and West: Human Evidence versus Nature’s Power）。

第二、三届东亚环境史协会的年会举办期间，我有教学任务及其他事项耽搁未能参与，因而没能亲自聆听休师的演讲，不免感觉遗憾。2017年10月在第四届东亚环境史学大会期间，我又一次见到了休师。这一次，休师是应时任协会会长、南开大学王利华教授的邀请，由女儿乔伊陪伴前来南开参会的，虽年事已高，但他再一次作了主题发言的文本准备和安排。10月28日午餐我们见面时，休师还亲手将Pam送的一条真丝围巾交给了我。令人痛心的是，那天午餐过后，休师突然发病，于是在南开大学校长的亲自关怀下被紧急送往天津的一家医院。是故，他未能按计划出席和点评我主持的专题讨论小组会，其大会主题发言也只得临时取消，他不得不在天津的一间病房度过第四届东亚环境史大会的会期。即便如此，当我的一位研究生前去协助看护时，还是深为高龄病中的休师的乐观情绪所感染。

在天津留院观察、治疗一段时间后，休师被家人和医护人员护送回国。这之后，他和我继续通过电子邮件保持联系，并安慰我们说，他恢复得很好，今后虽然不大可能参加国际环境史学会议，但出席美国国内的环境史会议不成问题。这样，在去年3月14到18日于加州河滨市（Riverside）召开的美国环境史年会上，我的学生李韶星见到了休师，并兴奋地发来了他们俩的合影。而且，据乔伊说，这次病重前不久，她爸爸还写了一篇纪念文章，准备提交参加不久后的2019年美国环境史年会，以缅怀去年离世的约翰·奥佩（John Opie）。谁料，他那么快就随奥佩而去，去天国长伴其环境史老友。

休师就这么走了，给我们留下了一串串的回忆。我不敢肯定，他自早年和中年走过世界上的许多地方而在晚年踏足东方这片热土，开启其环境史东渐之旅后，东方尤其是中国在其环境史版图中占有多大的分量，但显而易见的是，他从始更加关注东亚环境史研究，坚持参加东亚环境史协会举办的学术研讨会，并开始执着于东、西方环境史和环境问题之比较，以至耄耋之年仍为拓展世界环境史研究范畴以纳入东方而积极努力。由此可以瞥见他晚年来这里讲学、交游的良好效果，以及其中蕴涵的“老骥伏枥，志在千里”的精神。这样，我们从阅读和翻译《什么是环境史》开始，在接触并吸收一位环境史长者的卓越的学术成就以系统地了解什么是环境史的过程中，认识和理解了谁是休斯，为什么要称其为休师，休师为环境史乃至国际学术界留下了什么。这位师长对环境史学术的热爱，对环境史意义的认识，对环境史传播的努力，及其在学术之外散发的人格魅力，无疑是一笔巨大的精神财富，将持续滋养环境史学人和学术。

2019年2月21日

International Symposium on Historical Research of People's Living Conditions in the Loess Plateau
黄土高原民众生存状态的历史考察国际学术研讨会

The Northwest Institute of Historical Environment and Socio-Economic Development, Shaanxi Normal University will hold the International Symposium on Historical Research of People's Living Conditions in the Loess Plateau (黄土高原民众生存状态的历史考察国际学术研讨会) at Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China in late Augest, 2019.

The deadline for submission is 15 June, 2019.

Conference Language: Chinese

15th International Conference for the History of East Asian Scinece, Technology, and Medicine

The International Society for the History of East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine (ISHEASTM) will hold its 15th International Conference (15th ICHEASTM) at Chonbuk National University (CBNU), Jeonju, Jeolllabuk-do, Pepublic of Korea, Aug 19-23, 2019.

Important Dates:
-Panel application deadline: 21 Dec
-Individual application deadline: 31 Jan
-Announcement of acceptance: 28 Feb
-Online registration opening: 4 Mar

The next circular will be sent soon, with more detailed information about the conference web site (http://ichsea2019.org) and the technical details on the electronic submission.

Call for Papers
3rd World Congress of Envrionmental Hisoty: 2019

The International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations (ICEHO) invites proposals for the 3rd World Congress of Environmental History, to be held in22-26 July 2019 in Florianópolis, Brasil.

Convergences: The Global South and the Global North in the Era of Great Acceleration
Host: The Federal University of Santa Catarina (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, UFSC)

The 3rd World Congress of Environmental History invites scholars from different disciplines to situate environmental history in a planetary perspective. The categories “Global South” and “Global North” are historically-charged, created in the 20th century. They point to the diversity and the inequality of past and present human societies, and how they have transformed their landscapes, exploited natural resources, and connected with each other. The challenges posed by these connections and the dynamics of human and non-human communities have gained urgency in what has been called the Era of Great Acceleration. From their historical studies of rivers, cities, mountains, forests and plantations, to world transmigration narratives for plants, animals, diseases, people and commodities, historians and other environmental humanities scholars add to the debate on how to address the environmental challenges of the 21st century. The program committee seeks to further discussions that cross disciplinary or conceptual divides in new ways. We especially invite proposals that span gender, generational, and geographic differences among presenters as well as topics.

Submission Guidelines

The program committee invites panel, roundtable, individual paper, and poster proposals for the congress. We prefer to receive complete session proposals but will endeavor to construct sessions from proposals for individual presentations. Sessions will be scheduled for 1.5 hours. No single presentation should exceed 15 minutes, and each roundtable presentation should be significantly shorter than that, as roundtables are designed to maximize discussion among the speakers and
with the audience. Commentators are allowed but not required.

The program committee encourages non-conventional sessions that experiment with creative formats, such as hands-on workshops, tool demonstrations, and open discussion forums. To submit a proposal for an experimental session, please provide a 300-word abstract describing the activity.

To maximize participation, we encourage session proposals with more participants giving shorter presentations (e.g., four presenters at 12 minutes each). Please note that individuals can be a primary presenter in only one panel, roundtable, or other session proposal, but can also serve as chair or commentator in a second session proposal.

A limited number of travel bursaries will be available for students and junior scholars.

To submit a proposal, see:
https://convention2.alla cademic.com/one/iceho/iceho19/

Deadline for submission: 1 October 2018

3rd World Congress of Environmental History

Convergences: The Global South and the Global North in the Era of Great Acceleration

Host: The Federal University of Santa Catarina (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, UFSC)

The International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations (ICEHO) invites proposals for the 3rd World Congress of Environmental History, to be held in 22-26 July 2019 in Florianopolis , Brasil.

The program committee invites panel, roundtable, individual paper, and poster proposals for the congress. We prefer to receive complete session proposals but will endeavor to construct sessions from proposals for individual presentations. Sessions will be scheduled for 1.5 hours. No single presentation should exceed 15 minutes, and each roundtable presentation should be significantly shorter than that, as roundtables are designed to maximize discussion among the speakers and with the audience. Commentators are allowed but not required.

The program committee encourages non-conventional sessions that experiment with creative formats, such as hands-on workshops, tool demonstrations, and open discussion forums. To submit a proposal for an experimental session, please provide a 300-word abstract describing the activity.

To maximize participation, we encourage session proposals with more participants giving shorter presentations (e.g., four presenters at 12 minutes each). Please note that individuals can be a primary presenter in only one panel, roundtable, or other session proposal, but can also serve as chair or commentator in a second session proposal.

A limited number of travel bursaries will be available for students and junior scholars.

Deadline for Submission: 10 September 2018

For more information, please visit the following link: http://www.3wceh2019.floripa.br/conteudo/view?ID_CONTEUDO=387, or visit the conference website: http://www.3wceh2019.floripa.br/.

The Environmental History of the Pacific World

An international workshop to be held at the Sun Yat Sen University, Guanzhou, China
24-26 May 2018

Sponsors:
The Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich
Department of History and The Center for Oceania Studies, Sun Yat Sen University, Guangzhou
The Center for Ecological History, Renmin University of China, Beijing

This workshop is open to all ranks of scholars, from graduate students to senior professors. Paper proposals should be one-page long (or about 300 words) and include a title and a one- or two-page CV.

Send duplicate copies of your proposal to conference secretary Fei Sheng(), Associate Professor, Sun Yat Sen University and Annka Liepold().

The deadline for consideration is 15 January 2018.

KNOWING NATURE:  The Changing Foundations of Environmental Knowledge
An international conference to be held in Beijing, Renmin University of China, 25-27 May 2017

Co-Sponsored by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, and the Center for Ecological History, Renmin University of China, Beijing, with the collaboration of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.

Who knows nature best? Over the past 10,000 years competing communities of knowledge have evolved, each with formalized standards and processes.Peasants have competed against craftsmen, religious leaders, and urban experts. In modern societies based on science and technology, the claims to knowledge have changed even more dramatically, although scientific knowledge still competes with other bodies of knowledge. And always, who gets to define knowledge can have profound consequences for the natural world.

For our conference we seek proposals that examine what has been seen and understood as measurable, speculative, safe or unsafe and how scale (of landscapes, research projects etc.) can affect knowledge production. We welcome proposals on the rise of new fields of knowledge about nature and the environment and their search for disciplinary and institutional stability. Our conference will seek to move beyond simple dichotomies (modernity vs. tradition, science vs. religion, folk wisdom vs. urban ignorance), to develop comparisons that cross national boundaries, and to bring neglected parts of the globe and time into view.

Our keynote speaker will be Dagmar Schäfer, managing director of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, and author of The Crafting of the 10,000 Things: Knowledge and Technology in Seventeenth-Century China (University of Chicago Press, 2011).

This conference is open to all ranks of scholars, from graduate students to senior professors. Paper proposals should be one-page long (or about 300 words) and include a title and a one- or two-page CV.

Send proposals to conference secretary Agnes Kneitz, Assistant Professor of History at Renmin University at this address: a.kneitz@ruc.edu.cn.The deadline for consideration is 1 January 2017.

Successful proposals will be announced around 1 February, and complete drafts of papers (minimum of 5,000 words in English or the equivalent in Chinese characters) will be required by 1 May 2017. All papers will be circulated to the participants in advance and will not be orally presented during the conference.

The members of the selection committee include Mingfang Xia, Director of the Center for Ecological History and Senior Professor in the School of History, Renmin University of China; Helmuth Trischler, Head of Research at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, and Co-Director of the Rachel Carson Center; and Donald Worster, Hall Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, University of Kansas, and Distinguished Foreign Expert, Renmin University.

The organizing chairperson for the conference is Professor Shen Hou, Deputy Director of the Center for Ecological History and Associate Professor of history at Renmin University.

Travel expenses for scholars living outside of China will be reimbursed by the Rachel Carson Center. Scholars living within China should depend on their own universities for covering travel expenses. For all participants, hotel accommodations for four nights and all meals will be covered by Renmin University of China.

SECOND CALL, Call for Papers, deadline: Nov. 1, 2016
Environmental Change, Agricultural Sustainability, and Economic Development in the Lower Mekong Basin, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 16-18, 2017

This conference will focus on the environmental challenges, especially climate change, to agricultural sustainability in the Lower Mekong Basin of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, with special attention to Cambodia and Vietnam. The conference will consist of interdisciplinary paper and poster presentations by both scholars and practitioners.Proposals that consider Mekong Basin agriculture in a larger historical and cultural context, in political and environmental dialogue with other countries in the region (e.g., China), or that are comparative are especially encouraged.

Emphasis will be on papers that consider the social, cultural, and historical context and implications of agricultural practices and technology in this region, and especially the relationship between climate change and agricultural change and adaptation,and especially in Cambodia and Vietnam.But papers on related topics will be welcome (see list at the link below). All paper presentations will be in English.The conference will include a field trip.

The conference will be sponsored by the Department of Natural Resource Management and Development at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), Western Washington University, and the Global Research Institute at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and will convene at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The deadline for proposals is Nov. 1, 2016.The full text of the CFP and details about the conference and procedures for submitting proposals can be found here: https://gri.unc.edu/event/environmental-change-agricultural-sustainability-and-economic-development-in-the-lower-mekong-basin-conference/

Department: The Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota
Position: Assistant Professor of Environmental History
Priority deadline: October 24, 2016

The Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, invites applications for the position of tenure-track assistant professor of environmental history to begin in fall semester 2017 (August 28, 2017). This search is open as to geographical and temporal field. The department seeks scholars whose work engages with critical issues in this growing and vital field. We are particularly interested in scholars whose research has the potential to enter into conversation with other fields of social and cultural history that are represented in the department, including but not limited to the social and cultural histories of race, gender and sexuality, indigeneity, colonialism, empire, capitalism, and migration. Candidates whose work is interdisciplinary and/or transregional are also strongly encouraged to apply.Applicants can learn more about the position and apply via the link at h-net jobs: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=53440

Type: Summer Program
Date: January 15, 2016
Location: United States
Subject Fields: African History / Studies, American History / Studies, Chinese History / Studies, Environmental History / Studies, East Asian History / Studies

The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation and the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes are sponsoring the first annual Summer Institute in Chinese Studies and Global Humanities, to be held at the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota, June 13-17, 2016. The Summer Institute, titled “Grasping Water: Rivers and Human Systems in China, Africa, and North America,” will be directed jointly by Professor Ann Waltner of the Department of History, University of Minnesota, and Professor Ruth Mostern, Interdisciplinary Humanities Graduate Group Chair at the University of California, Merced.

“Grasping Water” examines rivers ecologically, at the intersection of the physical world and human culture, in ways that demand both humanistic and scientific perspectives. The attempt to control rivers—to minimize flooding, to facilitate transportation, and to provide water for drinking, irrigation, and electric power—is one of the great enterprises of human history. It is an enterprise with a checkered history: the control of nature has proven to be a vexed question. The question of control of rivers is deeply political: who sets the priorities for river use, who invests in river projects, where is knowledge about rivers produced, who benefits from river control? How do rivers figure into narratives about local meaning and identity, and who sets the terms for those conversations? The Institute will look at ways in which \communities and political entities in China, North America, and Africa have dealt with the problem of controlling rivers in comparative and historical perspective.

We welcome the participation of junior scholars, especially those from China and Africa.  We have funding to cover the expenses for a number of young scholars.

For more information about the Institute and for application forms, please see the Institute's website.

Contact Info: 
Grasping Water Summer Institute
Institute for Advanced Study
84 Church Street SE, Ste. 290
Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
612 624-2921

Contact Email: waltn001@umn.edu
URL: http://ias.umn.edu/ias-projects/grasping-water/

Society for the History of Technology (SHOT)
Annual Meeting - Singapore
22-26 June 2016

http://www.historyoftechnology.org/call_for_papers/index.html

Formed in 1958, SHOT is an interdisciplinary and international organization concerned not only with the history of technological devices and processes but also with technology in history, the development of technology, and its relations with society and culture --that is, the relationship of technology to politics, economics, science, the arts, and the organization of production, and with the role it plays in the differentiation of individuals in society.

Accordingly, the Program Committee invites proposals on any topic in a broadly defined history of technology, including topics that push the boundaries of the discipline. The Committee welcomes proposals for complete sessions (preferred) or individual papers from researchers at all levels, whether veterans or newcomers to SHOT's meetings, and regardless of primary discipline. Submitters are encouraged to propose sessions that include a diverse mix of participants: multinational origins, gender, graduate students and junior scholars with senior scholars, significantly diverse institutional affiliations, etc.

For the 2016 meeting the Program Committee welcomes proposals of the following types:

Traditional sessions of 3 or 4 papers, with a chair and a commentator. Deadline: December 15, 2015. 

Unconventional sessions, with formats that diverge in useful ways from the typical 3 or 4 papers with comment. These might include round-table sessions and workshop-style sessions with pre-circulated papers. Deadline: December 15, 2015. 

Open sessions: Individuals interested in finding others to join panel sessions for the Annual Meeting may propose Open Sessions to the Secretary's office via email, starting October 15, with a final deadline of December 1. Open Sessions descriptions, along with organizer contact information, will appear as soon as possible on the SHOT website, on the Open Sessions List. (The earlier the proposal is received by the Secretary, the earlier it will be posted to the Open Sessions List.) To join a proposed panel from the Open Sessions List, contact the organizer for that panel, not the Program Committee, and not the Secretary. Open Session organizers will then assemble full panel sessions and submit them to SHOT via the traditional/unconventional sessions portal by the end of the regular call for papers on December 15, 2015. The Program Committee will review the resulting fully formed session proposals, whether traditional or unconventional, for quality and adherence to SHOT standards of gender, geographic, and institutional diversity. 

Click on this link for more information on how to submit a paper/panel or join an open panel: http://www.historyoftechnology.org/call_for_papers/index.html

In special cases, proposals for individual papers will be considered, but the Program Committee will give preference to organized sessions, either Traditional, Untraditional, or Open. Those scholars who might ordinarily propose an individual paper are instead requested to propose Open Sessions themselves or to join an Open Session that is posted between October 15 and December 1. 

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The 2016 Program Committee consists of William Storey, Millsaps College (chair); Kevin L. Borg, James Madison University; Karin Zachmann, Technische Universität München; and Itty Abraham, National University of Singapore.
For general questions about the Society for the History of Technology, please contact SHOT Secretary David Lucsko at shotsec@auburn.edu.
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Transformations of the Earth:
International Graduate Student Workshop in Environmental History

To be held at
Renmin University of China, Beijing,
21-23 May 2016

Co-Sponsored by the Center for Ecological History, Renmin University of China,
and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

This conference is open to advanced graduate students and early postdocs, regardless of department, discipline, or country. The purpose of the conference is to provide promising but inexperienced scholars an opportunity to present their work in progress (e.g., a chapter from a dissertation) before an international group of peers and a panel of senior mentors in the field.

Our theme is meant to be broad and inclusive. We will consider topics from any period of history or any part of the world. But especially we want to include new research on how societies, large or small, have transformed the natural world around them materially and in the process have changed their own structure, views of the world, or social-economic relations. In other words, we are interested in exploring the dynamics of reciprocal change.Studies of ideology or cultural attitudes are welcome, but only if they include the material dimensions of social/ecological transformation.

Those interested in attending should send a written proposal of one page in length (or about 300 words) and include a title and a one- or two-page CV.The proposals should be in English, although for speakers of Mandarin it is permissible to provide both a Chinese language version and an English.

The deadline for consideration is 1 January 2016. Successful proposals will be announced around 1 February, and complete drafts of papers (minimum of 5,000 words in English or the equivalent in Chinese characters) will be required by 1 May 2016.All papers will be circulated to the participants in advance and will not be presented orally during the conference.

The senior mentors, who will provide critiques of all the papers, include Christof Mauch, director of the Rachel Carson Center, Munich; Peter C. Perdue, professor of Chinese history, Yale University; Lise Sedrez, professor of Brazilian history, Universidade Federal do Rio De Janeiro - Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais; and Mingfang Xia, Shen Hou, and Donald Worster, all faculty members in the Center for Ecological History.

Travel expenses for students living outside of China will be paid by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.Students living within China will be reimbursed for their travel expenses by Renmin University, which will also provide hotel rooms and meals for three days for all participants.

Send proposals to both of the following:
Agnes Kneitz (conference secretary)
Assistant Professor of History
Renmin University of China:
a.kneitz@ruc.edu.cn

and Annka Liepold
Events Coordinator
Rachel Carson Center,Munich
events@rcc.lmu.de

“Ethnic and Environmental Change in China’s Southwestern Frontier: A Global Perspective”
International Academic Workshop

Time: August 17-21, 2014
Venue: Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, China

The environmental history is afield with fruitful achievements, which has received a lot of attention from the international academia since 1970s. In recent years, important progress has been made on lots of issues of Chinese environmental history, while the research of regional and frontier ethnic environmental history seems relatively weak. The southwestern China possesses unique geographic location, geologic visage, climate, ecology structure, with distinction of many ethnic groups and the ecological diversity, thus this area holds both the generality of the history of the environmental change and the uniqueness of the history of regional environmental change.

In order to better exert the reference function of the academic research and its achievements, deepen the study of the regional environmental history and the frontier ethnic environmental history, promote the development of the interdisciplinary research, further elevate the research level of the world environmental history, encourage the study of the Chinese environmental history even the world environmental history into a new stage, promote and deepen the research of the southwestern environmental history and the world environmental history of the Yunnan University, make reference to and learn from the theory, method and experience of the environmental history home and abroad, the Department of History, Yunnan University is planning to hold “Ethnic and Environmental Change of China’s Southwestern Frontier: A Global Perspective” International Academic Workshop.

In order to achieve our anticipation of making the conference a great gathering of the researchers of the environmental changes of the southwestern China and other related field, please send the return receipt back to us before Feb 28, 2014, informing if you can attend the conference or not. Then the organizer will send you a formal invitation according to your reply.

Contact:
ZHOU Qiong zhouqiong1108@126.com
SHI Pang pamshi@163.com
LIU Rongkun liurongkun167@163.com

The Country and the City:  Connecting People and Their Placesin Environmental History

An international conference to be held in Beijing, at Renmin University of China, May 29-June 1, 2014

Co-Sponsored by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich, and the Center for Ecological History, Renmin University of China

Do rural people live in harmony with each other and with nature? Are urban people alienated from the land and exploitative in their ecological behavior?These questions point to cultural myths that have persisted across time and space, from ancient China to modern Africa.This conference seeks to scrutinize such cultural perceptions, in the spirit of famed British cultural critic Raymond Williams, and at the same time examine the material connections that have long bound rural and urban habitats together.We are especially interested in comparative studies that cross national boundaries, in papers that bring neglected parts of the world into view, and in perspectives that extend back in time before the twentieth century.

We seek papers on such topics as the cultural views of nature on the farm and in the city; the production of food and its export to the city; the disposal of urban wastes in the countryside; vectors of disease; the links forged by trade, capital, and the state among the various places, big and small, where people make their living; urban-rural conflicts over the meaning and practice of conservation; “green” cities and “eco villages”; and the city as habitat for nonhuman species.

This conference is open to all ranks and all scholars, from graduate students to senior professors.Paper proposals should be one-page long (or about 300 words) and include a title and a one- or two-page CV.The deadline for consideration is 1 January 2014. Successful proposals will be announced by 1 February, and complete drafts of papers (5,000-7,000 words in English or the equivalent in Chinese characters) will be required by 1 May.

All papers will be circulated to the participants in advance for careful reading and will not be orally presented during the conference.The organizers have no plans to publish a conference volume, although some of the papers may be translated into Chinese for publication in China, with the authors’ full consent.Also, we may ask a few of the presenters to provide post-conference “thought pieces,” short reflections on the themes and issues that emerged, for publication in the Perspectives series of the Rachel Carson Center.

Travel expenses for scholars living outside of China will be paid by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.Scholars living within China should depend on their own universities for covering travel expenses.For all participants, hotel expenses for four nights will be covered by Renmin University of China.

The last day of the conference will be devoted to a field trip that will explore the links between Beijing and its hinterland in food, water, and energy.

Send proposals in Chinese or English to all of the conference organizers:

Mingfang Xia
xiamingfang2@vip.sina.com

Christof Mauch
mauch@lmu.de

Donald Worster
dworster@ku.edu

Mingfang Xia is director of the Center for Ecological History, Renmin University of China, Beijing,and professor of history and director of the Qing Institute.Christof Mauch is director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, and professor of American cultural history, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.Donald Worster is Hall professor of history emeritus, University of Kansas, USA, and distinguished foreign expert, Renmin University of China.The organizing committee also includes Professor Shen Hou, deputy director of the Center for Ecological History and associate professor of history at Renmin University of China.The conference secretary is Agnes Kneitz, assistant professor of history at Renmin University of China.

The Role of Water in the History: Exploring Historical Wisdom for Current Water Management
Conference Date: 28 to 30, January 2013
Conference Place: Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China
Conference Venue: Yijing Garden Resort Hotel of Kunming (http://www.yjg-hotel.com/)

Important Dates to Remember:
20.11.2012 Submission of abstracts
15.12.2012 Notification of authors regarding abstracts acceptance
30.12.2012 Submission of full papers
20.11.2012 Registration open

Inquires:
Ms. Guo Na
Email: nina28.g@gmail.com

Dear Colleagues,

Please note that this conference is seriously interested in historical and comparative work, and not just contributions from the social science disciplines associated with Science and Technology Studies (STS). The model that we will follow is that for an all day workshop held in Copenhagen in early October as part of the annual Society for the History of Technology meeting, an event that included quite a wide range of historical papers as well as those by such specialists as psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists.
Best regards,

Philip C. Brown  
Department of History
The Ohio State University

Call for Papers
An NSF Supported Workshop

STS Forum on the 2011 Fukushima / East Japan Disaster
Building a Transnational Research Agenda and Strategy for Engagement through a Social Scientific Understanding of Disasters and the Disaster Sciences

INAUGURAL MEETING
University of California Berkeley
12-14 May 2013

This serves as the call for papers and for participants to the inaugural meeting of the “STS Forum on Fukushima,” an academic forum for discussing the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear accident and the larger 2011 East Japan disaster. The goal of this forum is to build a transnational research agenda and community centered on this disaster, and to extend the social scientific and humanistic understanding of disasters and the disaster sciences; for this inaugural meeting, we also invite scholars studying other disasters (Chernobyl, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, 9/11, Deepwater Horizon, as well as less well-known disaster), especially those who are interested in understanding disasters and the events in Japan in historical and comparative perspective. All scholars representing, or interested in engaging in active dialogue with those in the field of Science and Technology Studies, broadly construed, are invited to apply.

The aim of the inaugural meeting in Berkeley will be to bring together a community of interested scholars, introduce each other to our work in a focused setting, and to begin defining viable research strategies and alliances for pursuing future work. We also hope to constitute an informal publications committee that will begin exploring and cultivating specific venues for publication, including journal special issues and edited compilations.

Participants &Scope
The 2-½ day workshop will be held on the University of California, Berkeley campus, hosted by its Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society. We expect to draw scholars from Japan, the United States, Asia and Europe, and elsewhere in the world. We invite both senior and junior scholars (including graduate students), and hope to offer sufficient subsidies to make it possible for all those who are interested and selected to attend. Attendance will be limited to 30 participants.

While the major focus of the inaugural meeting will be the 2011 disaster in Japan, as we have noted above, we also wish to invite scholars who are working on other disasters in order to develop and strengthen the conceptual foundations upon which to base our understanding of the events in Japan, and to help ensure that our dialogue integrates into the wider disaster and disaster science studies community.

Workshop Format
The inaugural meeting of the Forum will be conducted as a pre-circulated papers workshop. Work in progress is positively encouraged. All papers will be of limited length,* with the accompanying expectation that all participants will both read and comment on all papers or précis’ prior to the workshop. (*1800-3000 words, or else a 1800 word précis accompanied by a longer manuscript made available to all participants.) Open discussion  around a group of papers, organized into themes, will occur following an introduction of the papers by assigned respondents. The workshop will conclude with an open discussion on research directions and publication strategies. Per the terms of our grant proposal, written responses and reflections compiled both during and after the event will be an integral and required component of this workshop.

Travel Subsidies
Through the generous support of our NSF workshop grant (SES-1230627), we will minimally offer full housing subsidies to all participants. It is our intent to provide additional subsidies based on need, with special set-asides for graduate students, junior, and minority scholars, and those traveling internationally for this event. (A separate travel subsidy request form will be mailed to you following your acceptance to the workshop.)

Application & Deadline
To apply, please submit a 300-500 word abstract, and a 1-2 page biographic summary (an NSF-style biosketch would be ideal). The materials should  be sent to the program chair, Atsushi Akera, at akeraa@rpi.edu (alternate: atsushi_akera@hotmail.com). Applications are due by 7 January 2013, and will be reviewed by a program committee comprised of an international panel of scholars. Please feel free to contact the program chair for further information.

(p.s. if you encounter problems with RPI’s spam filter, please send the message to my alternate email account: atsushi_akera@hotmail.com, preferably with a quick note to this account indicating that you sent a message there since otherwise I don’t check that account regularly. – Thanks!)

Disasters Wet and Dry:  Rivers, Floods, and Droughts in World History
An international conference to be held in Beijing, at Renmin University of China, May 23-26, 2013
Co-Sponsored by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich, and the Center for Ecological History, Renmin University of China

Too much, too little of a good thing?Water is one of the basic elements of life on earth, yet again and again it has been either in short supply or overabundant plenty.The result has been a string of environmental disasters that have prompted bursts of migration and adaptation, along with projects of flood control or water enhancement.It seems that societies can never find the perfect balance.

This conference will explore across national boundaries and throughout the human past the social, political, cultural, and economic effects of flooding rivers and cycles of drought.We invite scholars in history and related disciplines to submit paper proposals on such questions as these: How have different societies understood drought and flood, and how have traditional knowledge and modern science shaped social understanding of those phenomena?What strategies of coping have societies pursued, and where did they succeed and where did they fail?What kinds of community relief have they devised, short-term or long-term? How have natural disasters influenced the development of civilizations?How may human actions have created conditions for disastrous floods and droughts?

Paper proposals should be one-page long (or about 300 words) and include a title and a one- or two-page CV.The deadline for consideration is 1 January 2013. Successful proposals will be announced by 1 February, and complete drafts of papers will be required by 1 May.

Travel expenses for scholars living outside of China will be paid for by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.Scholars living within China should depend on their own universities for covering travel expenses. For all participants, hotel expenses for four nights will be covered by Renmin University of China.

The last day of the conference will be devoted to a field trip to the Hai River, once the site of severe, destructive flooding and now reconstructed as the centerpiece of the city of Tianjin’s burgeoning tourist industry.

Send proposals in Chinese or English to all of the conference organizers:

Mingfeng Xia xiamingfang2@vip.sina.com

Christof Mauch mauch@lmu.de

Donald Worster dworster@ku.edu

Mingfeng Xia is Director of the Center for Ecological History, Remin University of China, and professor of history in the Qing Institute.Christof Mauch is Director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich, Germany.Donald Worster is Hall Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA, and Distinguished Foreign Expert, Renmin University of China, Beijing.The conference secretary is Professor Shen Hou, Deputy Director of the Center for Ecological History and assistant professor of history at Renmin University of China.

Department: History, The Ohio State University
Position: Environmental History
Rank: Assistant Professor

The Department of History at Ohio State University invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure-eligible) in Environmental History.Candidates with specializations in any geographic region or chronological era are welcome to apply. We define “environmental history” to encompass the history of material life in all its permutations, including the histories of climate, natural ecologies, agriculture, urban formations, infrastructures, disease, animals, and natural resource use, as well as important cultural and political dimensions, such as perceptions of landscape and nature, environmental inequality, and movement politics. An ability to teach classes with a global and/or comparative perspective is preferred. We will show preference for candidates whose research and teaching will contribute to the College of Arts & Sciences initiative to enhance research and teaching on sustainability, energy, climate change, disease, technology, and development.

Qualifications:Applicants must hold the Ph.D. at time of appointment and must demonstrate an actual or potential record of sustained publication commensurate with the expectations at a major research university. They must also have a demonstrated ability for excellence in teaching undergraduate and graduate students. The successful hire also would be expected to promote interdisciplinary research and collaboration, including (but not limited to) other humanities, social sciences, sciences, and policy-related disciplines.

Application Instructions:Candidates should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, publications and/or article-length writing samples, and three letters of recommendation to Professor Nick Breyfogle, Chair, Environmental History Search Committee, Department of History, Ohio State University, 106 Dulles Hall, 230 West 17th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210. Review of applications will begin on October 15, 2012 and continue until the position is filled.

To build a diverse workforce Ohio State encourages applications from individuals with disabilities, minorities, veterans, and women. EEO/AA employer. To learn about our department’s commitment to diversity, please visit http://history.osu.edu/diversity.

Berkeley Summer Research Institute
“Bordering China:Modernity and Sustainability”

August 1-10, 2012
Institute of East Asian Studies
University of California, Berkeley

The Berkeley Summer Research Institute, organized in partnership with the Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, is pleased to announce its call for proposals for an intensive residential research workshop that will take place in the summer of 2012 at Berkeley.

Themes and Topics
For much of the 20th century China defined its quest for modernity in terms of the industrialization and the urbanization of its economy and landscape.State policies and private initiatives in pursuit of specific goals within this general framework have brought along significant transformations.China today is a land of gleaming towers as well as polluted air, of high-speed railroad connections as well as massive population dislocations, of an abundance of manufacturing wealth as well as a paucity of natural resources.A vibrant environmental discourse meanwhile has been on the rise.Under the general heading of “sustainability” this discourse calls attention to issues of social equity, the power politics of resource allocations, the humanistic constructions of people and nature, the globalization of world economies, and the contestations over ecological imperialism.

Drawing upon the imaginaries as described above, this Research Institute invites proposals that will contribute to a focused conversation concerning the following.

“Bordering China”:Instead of works on China Proper, we invite proposals that examine happenings and issues that cut across the territorial boundaries of the Chinese nation. Bordering China are regions such as Northeast Asia, Mongolia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Maritime Greater China as well as the various Chinese territories of Northeast, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Southwest China, and Southeast China. We seek proposals that will permit a focused examination of environmental and resource issues that cut across conventional borders concerning any of these regions.

“Modernity”: The infrastructural “soft” and “hard” wares of modernity range from currencies to railroads, water wells and value systems to credit mechanisms and educational institutions, so that people and goods might be facilitated in their moves for border-crossing connections across long distance.Modernity in this sense also carries ramifications, usually of a disrupting nature, for embedded systems of networking, beliefs, ways of life, communities and identities. We seek proposals that speak specifically to the impact of modernity on communities and identities in the bordering regions of China.

“Sustainability”:Politics and pragmatics are as potent as history and philosophy in approaches to issues of sustainability.We seek proposals that will open up the discussion of “sustainability” in light of debates of social justice, discursive authority, politics of resources and global connections – all in the context of communities and identities in the bordering regions of China.

Organization & Logistics
Youtien Hsing (Geography, UC Berkeley), Tsui-jung Liu (Academia Sinica), Robert Weller (Anthropology, Boston University) and Wen-hsin Yeh (History, UC Berkeley) will serve as the co-conveners of the Research Institute.

The Research Institute aims to convene senior scholars (post-PhD) in all stages of academic careers (post-doctoral researchers, lecturers,assistant professors through full professors) who are currently actively developing a book manuscript or research project on themes and topics as described above.

Invited participants are expected to make two presentations:a work of original research (chapter-length from a work-in-progress) based on one’s current project, and a primary text (or texts) pertaining to the source materials of one’s work.

Participants are also expected to serve as respondents to a doctoral student conference that will take place on August 4, 2011.

Other activities include a Sunday outing to the wine country and participation in a series of featured lectures that combine scholarly and social functions.

Papers presented at the Research Institute may be invited to appear in a special issue of the journal Cross-Currents jointly published by the Institute of East Asian Studies at Berkeley and the Research Institute of Korean Studies, Korea University.

Invited participants should plan to arrive at Berkeley by Tuesday, July 31, 2012 in time for a welcome reception, and to depart on Saturday, August 11, 2012.Full participation for the entire duration of the Research Institute is expected of all participants.

Participants are responsible for their roundtrip airfare to Berkeley.The Research Institute will cover all meals and lodging at a standard rate that provide full internet and library access and cleaning service from July 31 through August 11.Participants who wish to bring families and/or prefer hotel stay may choose to make up the differences in costs at their own expense.Details may be arranged upon invitation to participate.

Deadlines and Notifications
Applicants are invited to submit a project description that is no more than 3 pages, single-spaced, in length, plus a bibliography of the project, and curriculum vitae, to the attention of Ms. Yu Welch (yuwelch@berkeley.edu) at the Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), University of California, Berkeley, by January 20, 2012.Notifications of acceptance will be sent before March 1, 2012.

Please contact IEAS for further information about the Research Institute.

General Theme: Resource Utilizations and Impacts
Suggested themes:
(1) Energy,
(2) Forest,
(3) Land and Sea,
(4) Water (river, lake, reservoir, and underground water),
(5) Disaster and Prevention,
(6) Pollution,
(7) Health and Disease,
(8) Ethics and Justice.

Call for Papers
The First Conference of East Asian Environmental History (EAEH2011) aims to provide an opportunity for scholars to learn from each other and to identify important environmental issues with historical perspectives. We need to gain new insights through comparative studies and to learn from each other with regard to methods and sources. We invite papers dealing with themes suggested above for East Asia in any period. Although the study of environmental history is closely related to local histories and situations, we need to explore and identify common factors that have been influential beyond local and national boundaries.

Submission of an abstract: from January 15 to May 15, 2010.
The conference language is English. Oral presentation of each paper will be 15 minutes. Papers must be new and original; they should not have been presented previously at a professional conference nor published in a scholarly journal. Papers comparing the same theme across regions as well as those that present different facets of one place will be welcomed. After proposals are accepted, papers will be grouped into sessions according to their themes by the Program Committee. The chairs and commentators will also be invited.
There will be two roundtable sessions designed for postgraduate researchers for presenting ongoing PhD thesis work. Each will have 10 minute presentations. These roundtables will be chaired by senior scholars.
Some papers will be selected for presenting as posters which will be on display during the Conference and authors will have an opportunity to introduce their research in 3 minutes oral presentations at plenary sessions. If you prefer to present your research as a poster, you may give a note when submitting your proposal.

An abstract should be no more than 3,000 characters (including spaces) and should contain up to 5 bibliographic references. A 1-2 page CV must be submitted along with your proposal.

Papers accepted and presented at the Conference will be published afterwards with necessary revisions.

Review Process
Your proposal will be reviewed by the Program Committee in an anonymous process. Each proposal will be reviewed independently by at least two members of the Program Committee. The Program Committee reserves the right to group papers into appropriate sessions and identify those for presenting as posters.

Time Table
Online submission will be opened by 15 January 2010.
Deadline for submitting an abstract: May 15, 2010.
Tentative date for announcing acceptance: October 15, 2010.
Tentative deadline for submitting a full paper: August 31, 2011.
Please check the website of AEAEH (aeaeh.org) in due time.