RCC Newsletter, Issue 11

Dear Friends of the Rachel Carson Center,

In Germany, Rachel Carson is not quite a household name, but awareness is growing steadily. At the RCC, we have seized the opportunity to use the anniversary of Carson’s groundbreaking book Silent Spring (1962) to connect with people across the planet.  The last few months have seen a plethora of special activities to commemorate Carson’s landmark work.

1. Silent Spring Fifty Years Later: The RCC would like to congratulate the winners of the Silent Spring Essay Contest—Joan Maloof (USA) for the senior prize and Akrish Adhikari (Nepal) for the junior prize. The contest demonstrated the ways in which Carson’s book has resonated across the globe, with entries from all continents and 19 different countries. The two winning essays will appear in an upcoming RCC Perspectives issue devoted to the legacy of Silent Spring.
   
   
2. The RCC is honored to announce that our collaborative sustainability lecture series, “Leitbild Nachhaltigkeit,” has received an award from the German UNESCO Commission for its efforts to inspire people to pursue a sustainable and just future. The lecture series is organized in partnership with twelve Munich area universities and research centers.
   
   
3. The Environment & Society Portal, online since November 2011, is continuing to grow. The portal team is now on the outlook for proposals for exhibitions.
   
   
4. Two New Issues of the RCC Perspectives: To contribute to the global dialogue surrounding the tragedy of the reactor meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Stations,  the first 2012 RCC Perspectives issue examines Fukushima’s impact and possible legacy in Europe one year later. The second publication in this year’s series is composed of nine essays on the topic of water from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives. Both are free to download from our website.
   
   
5. The fruitful partnership between the RCC and the European Society for Environmental History continues with two upcoming programs and initiatives:
   
   The Call for Proposals for the Seventh Biennial ESEH Conference ‘Circulating Natures: Water—Food—Energy’ has been released; abstracts will be accepted between 1 June and 15 September 2012.
   
   Two summer schools for 2012—one in St. Petersburg and one in Flaran—are currently accepting applications from interested doctoral candidates and recent post-docs to apply.
   
   
6. Villa de Leyva, Colombia will play home to diverse RCC activities during the Sixth Symposium of the Latin American Society for Environmental History (SOLCHA). The Chair of the RCC’s advisory board Jane Carruthers will be giving the keynote address; Director Christof Mauch and Acting Project Director Wilko von Hardenberg, as well as RCC doctoral students, will be participating in conference panels; and the conference is being organized by current and former Carson Fellows Claudia Leal and Stefania Gallini.
   
   
7. Carson Professors 2012: Jens Kersten, Chair in Public Law and Governance at LMU Munich, and Reinhold Leinfelder, Professor of biology and paleontology at the Freie Universität Berlin, will be contributing their significant experience and expertise to the RCC in 2012 as Carson Professor and affiliated Carson Professor respectively.
   
   
8. Recent Events:
   
   How do we visualize saving the planet? The recent workshop, “Eco-images: Altering Environmental Discussions and Political Landscapes,” examined the role of political cartoons, documentary photography, viral media campaigns, and nature photography in shaping environmental discourse and changing consciousness.
   
   Also tied in to the anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the conference, “Hazardous Chemicals: Agents of Risk and Change (1800 – 2000),” took up Carson’s legacy in considering the growing presence of hazardous substances in our current environment, and cultural, scientific, and legal responses to these precarious elements.
   
   “Nature by Numbers:” A panel sponsored by the RCC at the 2012 ASEH Meeting presented three historical perspectives on natural hazard insurance and the diverse ways in which risk has been (and continues to be) contextualized.
   
   
9. Upcoming Events:
   
   Lunchtime Colloquium meets every Thursday from 12 to 2 p.m. in the lecture room of the Katholische Hochschulgemeinde (Leopoldstr. 11). Click here for a complete schedule.
   
   Call for Papers: Rivers, Cities, Historical Interactions (Deadline 1 August 2012)
   
   13 Jun: Water Makes Money (Green Visions Film Series)
   
   05 Jun: Bildung und Wissenschaft für eine Nachhaltige Entwicklung (lecture series)
   
   26 Jun: Stadtplanung vor neuen Herausforderung (lecture series)
   
   
10. Staff News: A prestigious John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship, travels to Glasgow and Stockholm, a new publication, and membership to the Scientific and Technical Advisory Board of the Global Risk Forum are among the highlights of recent staff activities.
    
    
11. Fellows’ / Alumni News: Current and Alumni Carson Fellows have been actively researching, writing, and lecturing throughout the world. Check out updates on: Maohong Bao, Marianna Dudley, Ingo Heidbrink, Martin Knoll, Claudia Leal, Reinhold Leinfelder, Gary Martin, John McNeill, Dan Philippon, and Bron Taylor.

To stay up to date on the RCC, check out our website, our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter.

Best wishes,

The Rachel Carson Center