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RCC Newsletter, Issue 24

December 2015

22.12.2015

Dear Friends of the RCC,

Rounding up for 2015, we are pleased to report many events, publications, awards, and staff news from the last few months. There are also many reasons to look forward to the New Year at RCC, including opportunities in the Fellowship and Internship programs, plus a great list of upcoming events.

  1. “Next year’s words await another voice” (T.S. Elliot). Call for Fellows for 2016/17! We’re very excited to be opening the call for applications to join our Fellowship Program in 2016/17. The deadline is 31 January 2016.
  2. Internships: Interested in joining the RCC? We’re offering places on our Internship Program. Deadline 31 January 2016.
  3. Publications: RCC Perspectives has published a new volume: Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Politics and Culture of Waste. This issue delves into the life of trash—following the transformations waste can take, and those it causes within landscapes, ecosystems and even the human body itself. A new book has also been released in the RCC supported series, The Environment in History: International Perspectives. Edited by Helmuth Trischler and RCC alumna Ruth Oldenziel, the book is entitled Cycling and Recycling: Histories of Sustainable Practices.
  4. Call for Proposals: “Transformations of the Earth”—International Graduate Student Workshop in Environmental History at Renmin University, Beijing, China. Deadline 1 January 2016.

    “Urban Cultures of Sustainability”—International Graduate and Doctoral Student Workshop. Deadline 1 January 2016.

  5. Recent Events: With the LMU's partner universities in China, the RCC was prominantly involved in the 1st LMU-China Academic Network (LMU-ChAN) Scientific Forum. RCC Board member Hou Shen of Renmin University gave a keynote speech, and the RCC organized a workshop on environmental history and geography. The workshop “The Anthropocene in Museums: Reflections, Projections and Imaginings” was convened at the Deutsches Museum by Kirsten Wehner, Libby Robin, Helmuth Trischler, and Jenny Newell. Newell also gave a lecture and panel discussion on “Reading the Sea: Islander Understandings of a Changing Pacific”at the Deutsches Museum in collaboration with the RCC.

    The workshop “Human Niche Construction” explored shifts from well-studied processes of change as its starting point, such as the introduction of agriculture. The “Global Deserts: Environmental History in the Arid Lands” conference examined, in a comparative and transnational context, a wide variety of topics. A panel at the African Studies Association of Africa Conference, “Discovering Environmental Humanities: Recovering the Environment in Africa and the African in the Environment” was sponsored by the RCC together with the African Network for Environmental Humanities (ANEH), a new organization established by RCC alumnus John Agbonifo. The conference “Trans-Environmental Dynamics: Understanding and Debating Ontologies, Politics, and History in Latin America” linked into current debates among diverse conceptualizations of the environment and thus, of various ways of knowing, making sense of, and interacting in the given worlds. 

    The RCC screened “10 Milliarden,” “Bidder 70,” and “This Changes Everything” as part of our Green Visions Film Series. We also began our Tuesday Discussion series at the RCC, open to staff, fellows, and students every week: our most recent discussion was facilitated by James Brainard on "How Climate Protection, Quality of Life, and Economic Growth Can be Achieved at the Municipal Level.” These events will continue into 2016.

  6. Upcoming Events: 

    Lunchtime Colloquium resumes 7 January 2016.

    Green Visions Film Series resumes 14 January 2016.

    Symposium: Foreign Bodies, Intimate Ecologies: Transformations in Environmental History (11.02.16–13.02.16).

    Workshop: Men and Nature: Gender, Power, and Environmental Change (26.02.16–28.02.16).

  7. Alumni News: The African Network for Environmental Humanities (ANEH), founded by RCC alumnus John Agbonifo, held their kick-off event at the recent African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) conference in Nigeria. 

    Alumna Simone Müller received the Maria Gräfin von Linden Preis, which is awarded every two years, for her talk entitled “Toxic Waste: A Global Bestseller?” 

    The Australian Research Council awarded a major research grant to RCC Board Member Libby Robin, Carson Fellow Kirsten Wehner, and future Carson Fellow Gregg Mitman for a joint research project: “Understanding Australia in The Age of Humans: Localizing the Anthropocene.” Awards were also made individually to RCC alumni Ruth Morgan and Emily O’Gorman for their respective projects, "Australindia: Australia, India and the Ecologies of Empire, 1788–1901," and "Remaking Wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin, 1800 to the Present." 

    Alumnus John Sandlos and research collaborator Arn Keeling published a new book, Mining and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics, Memory, together with University of Calgary Press. 

    Geschichte unserer Umwelt: Sechzig Reisen durch die Zeit (History of Our Environment: Sixty Journeys through Time), written by Verena Winiwarter (Advisory Board Chair) and Rudolf Bork, was named Environmental Book of the Year by the Deutsche Umweltstiftung (German Environmental Foundation).

  8. Portal news: The Environment & Society Portal team warmly welcomes new Research Associate Katrin Kleemann. Katrin will be responsible for coordinating publication of the Portal's virtual exhibitions and Arcadia articles. She is also a new PhD student with the Environment and Society program. The team is also looking forward to welcoming back colleague Dr. Iris Trautmann who will be returning from parental leave in January. Follow the portal on Twitter and Facebook and stay tuned for announcements in spring . . .
  9. Staff News: The Publications and Communications team has three new editors—Hannah Roberson, Samantha Rothbart, and Harriet Windley. Annka Liepold has returned to the RCC Administration Team as Events Coordinator.

    The Environmental Studies Certificate Program has expanded and their team and welcome Ursula Münster as the Academic Coordinator of the Certificate Program, and Katharina Müller, Maya Schmitt and Kyrill Hirner as the new Certificate Program Research Assistants. Kyrill will also be establishing an alumni network for the Certificate Program.

    Director Christof Mauch was awarded the Katz Distinguished Lecturership of the Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington.

As always, to stay up-to-date on RCC—check out our website, Facebook page, and blog, or follow us on Twitter.

With all our best wishes for the festive season,

Rachel Carson Center