About
Climate Histories Interdisciplinary Discussion Series/ Paris 2015
This Faculty Research Group was funded in 2011 and co-convened by the Departments of Social Anthropology, Geography, and the Engineering Department's Centre for Sustainable Development. It brings together people from a range of academic and non-academic backgrounds including the sciences, arts, humanities, and social sciences, and those working within policy, industry, activism, and media. Together we discuss past, present, and future environments and debate how to tackle the challenges presented by the changing climate.
The key questions we ask are:
- What can we learn about climate change from history?
- How do people envision their future environments?
- How do people gain knowledge of their environments, and why does this knowledge matter?
- How can different disciplines work together to develop our understanding?
For the upcoming academic year (2015-2016) the seminar series will be based on the upcoming Paris 2015 climate conference, which is to feature global political leaders and determine the future of climate change politics for decades to come. Paris 2015 will be a crucial conference as it aims to achieve a new international agreement on the climate applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.
Throughout the seminar series we will invite specialists with a direct connection to, or research interest in, specific themes that feature during the Paris 2015 conference, including among others the 2˚c limit; the relationship between science and policy; political engagement with climate change; the role of religion and morality; issues surrounding gender and indigenous knowledge and the role of government in mitigating against climate-induced challenges. Supported by our broad network of researchers and participants the seminars will be structured according to three sub-themes corresponding to the three terms of the year:
- Lead-up to Paris 2015: discuss the background and broader context to the event, proceedings, relevant speakers
- Arising from Paris 2015: discuss the social, cultural, political, economic, scientific, indigenous, and gendered issues arising from the conference, including relevant speakers
- After Paris 2015: debate the successes, failures, value and relevance of global climate change conferences and discuss the broader future of climate change engagement.
For more information, please contact Richard Fraser (rf376@cam.ac.uk)
External website: Cambridge Interdisciplinary Research on the Environmental (cire group)
CRASSH is not reponsible for the content of external websites
Administrative assistance: gradfac@crassh.cam.ac.uk
---
2014-15
The Climate Histories Interdisciplinary Seminar is about bringing together and expanding a network of people from different backgrounds (sciences, arts, humanities, and social sciences, as well as people working in policy, media, and industry) to tackle questions about climate and environmental change in the past, present, and future.
The general questions we ask as a network are: Why does environmental knowledge matter? What can we learn about climate change from history? How can different disciplines work together to develop our understanding? (See our website created for a one-year AHRC network project at http://climatehistories.innerasiaresearch.org/ )
The aim of the seminar series will be to share knowledge, start conversations, and work towards new ways of thinking for future research projects.
Conveners
Conveners
Dr Heather Cruickshank (Department of Engeineering, Centre for Sustainable Development)
Dr Hildegard Diemberger (Department of Social Anthropology and Director of Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit)
Dr Richard Fraser (Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit)
Previous Conveners
Dr Barbara Bodernhorn (Division of Social Anthropology)
Faculty Advisors
Professor Simon Schaffer (Department of History and Philosophy of Science)
Dr David Sneath (Division of Social Anthropology)
Past Events
Climate Histories |
---|
Climate Histories: An Introduction 05 October 2011, CRASSH Welcome meeting and reception |
Climate Change and the History of Comfort and Wellbeing 19 October 2011, CRASSH Roundtable discussion: Samuel Brown (Sociology), Marcos Pelenur (CSD), Nell Crowden (UCL) tbc. |
What Does Sustainability Mean in an Era When We’re All Talking About Climate Change? 02 November 2011, CRASSH Roundtable discussion: Dr Vaughan Wittorff (Computer Laboratory), Dr Heather Cruickshank (Centre for Sustainable Development), and Dr Paul Haynes (Land Economy). |
Extreme Climate Events: an interdisciplinary Perspective 16 November 2011, CRASSH Dr Mark Aldenderfer (University of California, Merced) |
Climate and International Relations; Past, Present, and Future 30 November 2011, CRASSH Roundtable discussion: Michael Tai (Land Economy) and Alison Cooke (Engineering). |
Windfarm Polemic Discussion/CANCELLED 18 January 2012, CRASSH |
The Anthropocene: A Geological Age of Our Own Making? 01 February 2012, CRASSH Dr Barbara Bodenhorn (Division of Social Anthropology), Dr Ken McNamara (Director of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences) as discussant. |
Wind Turbines: Necessary Action in the Name of Climate Change? 15 February 2012, CRASSH Round table discussion involving engineer Dr Richard McMahon and anthropologists Dr Stephen Hugh-Jones and Dr Christine Hugh-Jones |
Climate Histories and the Future of Investment 29 February 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground Floor David Sneath (Social Anthropology), Raphael Calel (LSE) |
POSTPONED /Coast and Climate 14 March 2012, CRASSH |
Coast and Climate 25 April 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor |
Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink. 09 May 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Chaired by Dr Barbara Bodenhorn |
Cancelled-What Can We Learn Today from Past Climates 23 May 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor |
Climate Histories series 06 June 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Prof Herbert Huppert (FRS, Chairman of EASAC). |
Water as a Framing Subject for Climate Knowledge 03 October 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Damien Guihen (Oceanographer British Antarctic Survey). Followed by Reception |
Cancelled- One River Project (Climate Histories) 17 October 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor David Beresford-Jones (Dept of Archaeology). Cancelled |
The Idea of a Wetlands 31 October 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Valerie Price and co (Interdisciplinary group). Part of the Climate Histories Interdisciplinary seminar series |
Modern Implications for Traditional Technologies (TBC) 14 November 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Lt Col Andy Szabo (Royal Engineers) |
Of Time and Forest Fires - or what are Scientists for Anyway? Climate Change and Questions of Evidence. 28 November 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Barbara Bodenhorn (Dept of Social Anthropology) |
Moving Water: deology and Hydrology in Human-Environmental Relations 05 December 2012, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Prof Veronica Strang (Director of the Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Durham). |
Cancelled- Climate Histories 16 January 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor |
Fire and Ice 30 January 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Glenn Juday (Prof of Forest Ecology, School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences, University of Alaska) |
Polar Climate: Global Changes; One Overview from the British Antarctic 13 February 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Damien Guihen (Postdoctoral Fellow, British Antarctic Survey) |
Sustainable Building Design in a Changing Climate 27 February 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Prof John Robinson (Associate Provost, Sustainability, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver and Director of UBC Sustainability Initiative). |
Footprints in the City: Energo-Politics and Climate Change in Manchester, UK 13 March 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Dr Hannah Knox (Research Fellow, ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change, University of Manchester) |
A Sustainable Built Enviroment? 24 April 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Interdisciplinary Roundtable Discussion: Engineering and Anthropology. |
Sustainable Energy in a Bail-out Enviroment 08 May 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Dr Marta Magalhães (Div of Social Anthropology, Cambridge). |
Hot Air: Translating the Debate for Children 22 May 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Emma Langley (Publisher, Phoneix Yard Books) and Bruce Huett (Grass Roots Educator). |
3rd Ring Out: The Politics and Aesthetics of 'Practicing' the Future 05 June 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Dr Zoe Svendsen (Director of METIS. Honorary Research Fellow, Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre) |
Film & Discussion: Chasing Ice 16 October 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Introduced by Charles Swithinbank (Polar Glaciologist). Discussants: John Ash (SPRI, Remote sensing unit), Barbara Bodenhorn (Cambridge) at Climate Histories |
Incremental Change - How to Make it Visible? 30 October 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Rosamunde Almond (Cambridge), Barbara Bodenhorn (Cambridge) at Climate Histories |
Extreme Events: Evidence of What? 13 November 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Francis Ludlow (Harvard), Hildegard Diemberger (Cambridge), James Montgomery (British Columbia) at Climate Histories |
Official Accounts that Reach beyond Academia 27 November 2013, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Roz Almond (FES), Simon Schaffer (Cambridge), Marcos Pelanur (Cambridge), Rob Doubleday/tbc (Cambridge) at Climate Histories |
Film Silent Snow–The Invisible Poisoning of the World 22 January 2014, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Rob Doubleday (Cambridge), John Ash (SPRI, Cambridge) at Climate Histories |
Health and Security 05 February 2014, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Charles Kennel (California), Chris Gilligan (Cambridge) at Climate Histories |
Sustainability and Development 19 February 2014, CRASSH, Seminar room S2, 2nd Floor Catherine Alexander (Durham), Richard Fraser (Cambridge) at Climate Historie |
Forum Discussion: A Question of Prioritising 05 March 2014, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor Peter Schweitzer (Vienna), Paul Warde (East Anglia) at Climate Histories |
Education, Environment and Policy 30 April 2014, CRASSH Seminar room SG2 Morgan Phillips, Richard Irvine (Cambridge) at Climate Histories |
The Global Long View 14 May 2014, CRASSH Seminar room SG2 David Vaughan, Robert Mulvaney and Chris Hope at Climate Histories |
Sustainability 28 May 2014, CRASSH Seminar room SG2 Daniel Knight, Jon Sumanik-Leary at Climate Histories |
Policy and Knowledge and Film screening 11 June 2014, CRASSH Seminar room SG2 Edvard Hviding at Climate Histories |
Fracking - Roundtable Discussion 08 October 2014, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Natalie Bennett (Green Party), David Reiner ( Cambridge), Tim Harris (Warriors Call), Susan Crate (G Mason) at Climate Histories |
Anthropological Investigations and Adaptive Challenges (Rural Contexts) 09 October 2014, Room SG1, Alison Richard Building (NB different day) Susan Crate (George Mason, Virginia) at Climate Histories |
Climate Histories Discussion 22 October 2014, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Hildegard Diemberger (Soc Anthropology), Heather Cruicshannk (C for Sustainable Development) at Climate Histories |
Technology, Climate Change, and Engineering Solutions 05 November 2014, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Herta Nobauer (Vienna) |
Trails and Mapping of Climate Change in North America 19 November 2014, Room SG1, Alison Richard Building Michael Bravo (Cambridge) at Climate Histories |
Communicating Climate Change through Art 03 December 2014, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Steve Waters (Theatre Director), Edvard Hviding (Bergen) at Climate Histories |
Tourism in the Taiga 14 January 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Richard Fraser (Cambridge) ~Climate Histories |
Engaging beyond the Academy 28 January 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Charles Kennel (California) ~Climate Histories |
Film Chasing Ice instead of Alpine Cairns 11 February 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Screening~Climate Histories |
Storytelling, Education and Climate Change 25 February 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Tom Moorhouse (Oxford), Keri Facer (Bristol) ~Climate Histories |
Games and Engagement 11 March 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Andry Brown (Architectural Research Ltd), Rosemary Randall, Heather Cruickshank (Cambridge) ~Climate Histories |
Alpine Flood Refuges, and Resilience among the Tlingit of Alaska 22 April 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. Thomas Thornton (Oxford) ~Climate Histories |
Pastoralism in Inner Mongolia's Drylands 06 May 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. Tom White (Cambridge) ~ Climate Histories |
Annual Cycles among Eastern Tukanoan indians/Amazon 20 May 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. Aloisio Cabalzer (Geneva) ~ Climate Histories |
Climate Histories 03 June 2015, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. Ken Webster & William Scott (Ellen Macarthur Foundation) ~ Climate Histories |
The Road to Paris and Beyond 07 October 2015, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Richard Fraser (Cambridge), Mark Aldenderfer (California)-Climate Histories/Paris 2015 |
Knowledge, Scale and Paris 2015 21 October 2015, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Marc Ozawa (Cambridge) - Joint event Climate Histories/Paris 2015 and In Search of a 'Good' Energy Policy |
Energo-Power and the Politics of Climate Change 04 November 2015, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Lynne Badia (Alberta) -Climate Histories/Paris 2015 |
Pre-Paris Workshop 18 November 2015, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Cilmate HIstories/Paris 2015 |
Religion, Science and the Morality of Climate Change 02 December 2015, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Richard Irvine (Cambridge)-Climate Histories/Paris 2015 |
Paris 2015 Field-Report 13 January 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Richard Fraser, Jonathan Wooley (Cambridge)-Climate Histories |
After Paris: Where do we Go from Here? 27 January 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Mayesha Alam and Briana Mawby (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security -Paris 2015/Climate Histories |
Climate Change and Gender Inequalities 10 February 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Andrea Butcher (Exeter)- Paris 2015/Climate Histories |
Interrogating Public Debates over Jurisdictional REDD+ in California’s Global Warming Solutions Act: 24 February 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. NB* Seminar starts at 4:00pm today Libby Blanchard (Cambridge)-Paris 2015/Climate Histories |
Climate Change, Epidemics and the Archival Lens 09 March 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building Hildergard Diemberger and Christos Lynteris (Cambridge)-Paris 2015/Climate Histories |
Avoiding Civilisation-threatening Climate Change: Reflections of a ... 20 April 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. Climate Histories |
Climate Histories. CANCELLED 04 May 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. Paul Warde (Cambridge)-Climate Histories |
Why should I care about the Arctic? 18 May 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. Subhankar Banerjee (V-F Clare Hall)- Climate Histories |
In review: RAI2016 Anthropology, Weather and Climate Change 01 June 2016, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building. |