Svartárkot Course in Environmental Humanities

See poster.

An interdisciplinary course is offered in the Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences, located at Bárðardalur, northern Iceland, connecting local communities and issues with global developments, studying the Lake Mývatn area and the Bárðardalur valley on the banks of the glacial Skjálfandafljót river with its magnificent waterfalls. The course encompasses a unique blend of lectures and experiences of cultural histories embedded in landscapes.

Aimed at masters and doctoral-level study, this summer course based at the northern edge of the Icelandic highland wilderness addresses questions of long‐term societal resilience in the face of changing climate and society, natural resources, effects of early globalization and anthropogenic transformation of landscapes and ecosystems. The course also welcomes professors and scholars looking for new insights and inspirations in post-and transdisciplinary methods.

The course is co-organized by: The Svartárkot Culture-Nature Project; The Reykjavik Academy; the City University of New York; and the Stefansson Arctic Institute, in cooperation with NABO (The North Atlantic Biocultural Organisation); NIES (The Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies); GHEA (The Global Human Ecodynamics Alliance); and the Circumpolar Networks case of IHOPE (The Integrated History and Future of People on Earth), a core project of Future Earth.

Course description:
The course involves multiple excursions and lectures in the field and integrates perspectives, theories, case studies and methodologies from the following disciplines: Environmental Humanities; Literary Ecocriticism; Environmental and Climate History; Environmental Archaeology and Anthropology; Historical Ecology; and Manuscript Studies

All course lectures, readings, discussions and writing will be in English.

The official course description online includes useful information on application procedures, deadlines, tuition, practical arrangements, and full contact details. See http://scn.akademia.is/summer-course2018.html

Welcome to Bárdardalur this summer for an outstanding opportunity to study environmental change in and among some of Iceland's most intriguing and arresting environments at the edge of the Arctic Circle.

Sincerely,
Megan Hicks, Hunter College, City University of New York
Árni Daníel Júlíusson,PhD, The University of Iceland, The National Museum of Iceland
Ragnhildur Sigurðardóttir,PhD,The Reykjavík Academy
Astrid E.J. Ogilvie, PhD,Stefansson Arctic Institute, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR).
Viðar Hreinsson, The Reykjavík Academy, Icelandic Museum of Natural History, Stefansson Arctic Institute