Anne Dance

As graduate students and faculty know well, conferences can become a jet-lagged stumble from one meeting room to another. For the past ten years, the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE) has given historians at varying stages of their careers an alternative by running a three-day field school right before the Canadian Historical Association’s annual meeting. The Canadian History of the Environment Summer School (CHESS) took place in Ottawa last weekend, and I was fortunate to attend it.

More than thirty environmental historians spent time exploring the Central Experimental Farm, Gillies Grove (home of the tallest tree in Ontario, an impressive white pine), and of course Parliament Hill. We carefully made our way through a cavernous old DOMTAR pulp and paper mill at Chaudière Falls, the long-time source of hydro power and a sacred place for the region’s Algonquin people. Despite the omnipresence of the federal government, examples of local community interventions dominated, including West Carleton residents who kept the Diefenbunker open as a strange museum dedicated to conflict resolution, children’s birthday parties, and, most recently, a play.

I wrote a summary of the weekend on my website. Anyone who is interested in this field school should keep an eye on NiCHE’s event page.