By: Matthew Morse Booker Introduction: An Embodied Multispecies Environmental Humanities Experience As one of the first Alumni Fellows at the Rachel Carson Center (RCC), I wanted to return something to the remarkable community of RCC staff, students, and fellows. In North Carolina I am… Continue Reading “Sourdough Cultures”
By Doug Hoverson
During my research for Land of Amber Waters: The History of Brewing in Minnesota, a retired employee of the Theo. Hamm Brewing Co. in St. Paul told me: “Beer is 97 percent water, and the other three percent is none of your damn business.”
By John Gillespie
In some way or another, all modern states establish alcohol policies. One important question in any study of these systems is whether or not the type of drink makes any difference.
By Malcolm F. Purinton
“Why don’t you write your literature review about alcohol?” my African colonialism professor asked me during my master’s degree. “I can do that?!” I replied. The possibility of researching and writing on the history of beer and alcohol was, honestly, mind-blowing.
30–31 May 2017, Bologna, Italy In May 2017, the University of Bologna’s Department of History and Culture hosted a workshop entitled “Household Consumption and Environmental Change in the Twentieth Century.” The workshop was co-convened by RCC alumnus Giacomo Parrinello (Sciences Po, Paris) and professor of… Continue Reading “Household Consumption and Environmental Change in the Twentieth Century”
by Marlen Elders When I first saw designs for the plantCube, a smart, fully automated machine for producing perfect vegetables, it seemed more like a high-fashion kitchen device than a sustainable alternative for growing vegetables. The plantCube was created by Munich-based start-up agrilution, whose… Continue Reading “Nurturing My Greens with High-Tech? Reflections on Vertical Farming and the PlantCube”
The workshop “Consuming the World: Eating and Drinking in Culture, History, and Environment” took place at the Rachel Carson Center on 11–12 March and brought together scholars from a range of disciplines for two days of discussions on food, culture, history, and the environment.… Continue Reading “Snapshot: “Consuming the World” workshop, RCC, 11–12 March 2016”
by Sibylle Zavala (with Ramona Mayr and Thomas Müller), Environmental Studies Certificate Program students Our final project, and that of our fellow students, was pioneering work. As a biologist, an interculturalist, and an environmental planner, we formed a rather interdisciplinary group. We wondered what we could… Continue Reading “Student Research: Food Waste”
by Laurianne Posch Standing in my grandparents’ kitchen at a family gathering on a sunny winter’s day in Iowa I overheard my uncle ask my cousin, who was around my age, the seemingly simple question: “So where are you living right now?” I cringed,… Continue Reading “Worldview: Transient Lifestyle, Everlasting Environmental Impacts: Reflections from my Time in Munich”
In the “Making Tracks” series, RCC fellows and alumni present their experiences in environmental humanities, retracing the paths that led them to the Rachel Carson Center. For more information, please click here. Why Did Americans Stop Eating Locally? by Matthew Booker I am a… Continue Reading “Making Tracks: Matthew Booker”