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:

  1. Lead-up to Paris 2015: discuss the background and broader context to the event, proceedings, relevant speakers
  2. Arising from Paris 2015: discuss the social, cultural, political, economic, scientific, indigenous, and gendered issues arising from the conference, including relevant speakers
  3. 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
5 Oct 2011 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH

Welcome meeting and reception

Climate Change and the History of Comfort and Wellbeing
19 Oct 2011 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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?
2 Nov 2011 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Nov 2011 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH

Dr Mark Aldenderfer (University of California, Merced)

Climate and International Relations; Past, Present, and Future
30 Nov 2011 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH

Roundtable discussion: Michael Tai (Land Economy) and Alison Cooke (Engineering).

Windfarm Polemic Discussion/CANCELLED
18 Jan 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH
The Anthropocene: A Geological Age of Our Own Making?
1 Feb 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Feb 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Feb 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground Floor

David Sneath (Social Anthropology), Raphael Calel (LSE)

POSTPONED /Coast and Climate
14 Mar 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH
Coast and Climate
25 Apr 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor
Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.
9 May 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Chaired by Dr Barbara Bodenhorn

Cancelled-What Can We Learn Today from Past Climates
23 May 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor
Climate Histories series
6 Jun 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Prof Herbert Huppert (FRS, Chairman of EASAC).

Water as a Framing Subject for Climate Knowledge
3 Oct 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Damien Guihen (Oceanographer British Antarctic Survey). Followed by Reception

Cancelled- One River Project (Climate Histories)
17 Oct 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

David Beresford-Jones (Dept of Archaeology). Cancelled

The Idea of a Wetlands
31 Oct 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Nov 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Nov 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Barbara Bodenhorn (Dept of Social Anthropology)

Moving Water: deology and Hydrology in Human-Environmental Relations
5 Dec 2012 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Jan 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor
Fire and Ice
30 Jan 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Feb 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Damien Guihen (Postdoctoral Fellow, British Antarctic Survey)

Sustainable Building Design in a Changing Climate
27 Feb 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Mar 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Apr 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Interdisciplinary Roundtable Discussion: Engineering and Anthropology.

Sustainable Energy in a Bail-out Enviroment
8 May 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Dr Marta Magalhães (Div of Social Anthropology, Cambridge).

Hot Air: Translating the Debate for Children
22 May 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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
5 Jun 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Oct 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Oct 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Rosamunde Almond (Cambridge), Barbara Bodenhorn (Cambridge) at Climate Histories

Extreme Events: Evidence of What?
13 Nov 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Nov 2013 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Jan 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Rob Doubleday (Cambridge), John Ash (SPRI, Cambridge) at Climate Histories

Health and Security
5 Feb 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Charles Kennel (California), Chris Gilligan (Cambridge) at Climate Histories

Sustainability and Development
19 Feb 2014 2:00pm - 4:00pm, CRASSH, Seminar room S2, 2nd Floor

Catherine Alexander (Durham), Richard Fraser (Cambridge) at Climate Historie
NB Note change of venue and time Room S2, 2nd Floor at 2pm

Forum Discussion: A Question of Prioritising
5 Mar 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH, Seminar room SG2, Ground floor

Peter Schweitzer (Vienna), Paul Warde (East Anglia) at Climate Histories

Education, Environment and Policy
30 Apr 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH Seminar room SG2

Morgan Phillips, Richard Irvine (Cambridge) at Climate Histories

The Global Long View
14 May 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH Seminar room SG2

David Vaughan, Robert Mulvaney and Chris Hope at Climate Histories

Sustainability
28 May 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH Seminar room SG2

Daniel Knight,  Jon Sumanik-Leary  at Climate Histories

Policy and Knowledge and Film screening
11 Jun 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, CRASSH Seminar room SG2

Edvard  Hviding at Climate Histories

Fracking – Roundtable Discussion
8 Oct 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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)
9 Oct 2014 10:00am - 12:00pm, Room SG1, Alison Richard Building (NB different day)

Susan Crate (George Mason, Virginia) at Climate Histories

Climate Histories Discussion
22 Oct 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Hildegard Diemberger (Soc Anthropology), Heather Cruicshannk (C for Sustainable Development) at Climate Histories

Technology, Climate Change, and Engineering Solutions
5 Nov 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Herta Nobauer (Vienna)

Trails and Mapping of Climate Change in North America
19 Nov 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG1, Alison Richard Building

Michael Bravo (Cambridge) at Climate Histories

Communicating Climate Change through Art
3 Dec 2014 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Steve Waters (Theatre Director), Edvard Hviding (Bergen) at Climate Histories

Tourism in the Taiga
14 Jan 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Richard Fraser  (Cambridge) ~Climate Histories

Engaging beyond the Academy
28 Jan 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Charles Kennel (California) ~Climate Histories

Film Chasing Ice instead of Alpine Cairns
11 Feb 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Screening~Climate Histories

Storytelling, Education and Climate Change
25 Feb 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Tom Moorhouse (Oxford), Keri Facer (Bristol) ~Climate Histories

Games and Engagement
11 Mar 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Apr 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

Thomas Thornton (Oxford) ~Climate Histories

Pastoralism in Inner Mongolia’s Drylands
6 May 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

Tom White (Cambridge) ~ Climate Histories

Annual Cycles among Eastern Tukanoan indians/Amazon
20 May 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

Aloisio Cabalzer (Geneva) ~ Climate Histories

Climate Histories
3 Jun 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

Ken Webster & William Scott (Ellen Macarthur Foundation) ~ Climate Histories

The Road to Paris and Beyond
7 Oct 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Richard Fraser (Cambridge), Mark Aldenderfer (California)-Climate Histories/Paris 2015

Knowledge, Scale and Paris 2015
21 Oct 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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
4 Nov 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Lynne Badia (Alberta) -Climate Histories/Paris 2015

Pre-Paris Workshop
18 Nov 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Cilmate HIstories/Paris 2015

Religion, Science and the Morality of Climate Change
2 Dec 2015 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Richard Irvine (Cambridge)-Climate Histories/Paris 2015

Paris 2015 Field-Report
13 Jan 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building

Richard Fraser, Jonathan Wooley (Cambridge)-Climate Histories

After Paris: Where do we Go from Here?
27 Jan 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Feb 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Feb 2016 4:00pm - 6:00pm, 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
9 Mar 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, 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 Apr 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

Climate Histories

Climate Histories. CANCELLED
4 May 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

Paul Warde (Cambridge)-Climate Histories

Why should I care about the Arctic?
18 May 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

Subhankar Banerjee (V-F Clare Hall)- Climate Histories

In review: RAI2016 Anthropology, Weather and Climate Change
1 Jun 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Seminar Room SG2, Alison Richard Building.

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