Alena Pirok, Georgia Southern University
PROPOSAL TYPE
Roundtable
Seeking
- Seeking Additional Presenters
RELATED TOPICS
- Environmental sustainability
- Preservation
- Public Engagement
ABSTRACT
When the temperature climbs above 95℉ in Savannah the carriage horses are given the day off. City officials argue that the heat is hazardous for horses. What is the max temp for humans?
Extreme heat, storms, and cold have changed the way humans and animals interact with the outdoors. Public history institutions that depend on open air programs are faced with the realization that the world they seek to create is meteorologically, as well as culturally & politically, different from the current time.
This roundtable will look at the present and historical challenges that outdoor history institutions/projects have encountered, how they have met or seek to meet those challenges, and how climate change discussions factor into their interpretation.
DESCRIPTION
I am looking for panelists, leads to other panelists, or opportunities to join in with other panels/roundtables/etc that have a similar idea.
I welcome practitioners with on-the ground experience, historians of public history who have come across these issues in their research, and a mix of both.
This round table is broadly conceptualized. The abstract leans towards living history issues, but any interpretive style in an outdoor setting is welcomed.
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly: Alena Pirok, Georgia Southern University, [email protected]
ALL FEEDBACK AND OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY JULY 1, 2021. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Hi Aleana,
You raise an important issue about the public history sites and climate change. Perhaps if you broadened your proposal beyond the policies of human/animal interaction to open the session to other ways in which climate change has affected the sustainability of public history work, your idea might get a bit more traction.
Hi Modupe,
I am open to that. Do you have a project?
Best,
Alena
Hey Alena, as we are going through a heat wave in Montreal at this moment, your question resonates deeply.
In Canada, there is an organization called NiCHE – Network in Canada History & Environment (http://niche-canada.org/). There are incredible folks actively discussing and publishing on this topic. I’ve shared your topic proposal with them, but encourage you to take a look at their website to see if any of their work calls to you.
Good luck!
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for sharing it. I’ll take a look.
Best,
Alena
This is such an interesting issue that I hadn’t even concerned – and I am shocked that I hadn’t! Could you reach out to some of the museums that do this kind of work to see if they have people who would like to participate in this panel? The High Desert Museum in Bend OR could be a great place to contact. There is the Living History Farms in Des Moines IA. I’d also recommend looking at some places closer to the conference site. Though it would likely stretch beyond your interests for this panel, there is so much here for historic houses too that don’t have a/c and the introduction of that would impact their site in many negative ways.
I would like to echo Modupe’s sentiment that this panel could be expanded to think about how climate change impacts interpretation at outdoor living history sites more broadly. One area that comes to mind that I think would be an interesting addition to this conversation is maritime history sites. How do rising sea levels– in addition to rising temperatures that you mention in the proposal– impact their work?
This timing is so uncanny!
I was recently in a meeting where we were discussing the need for more public discussion about the impact of climate change on carriage rides and animal care. Considering Julie’s example regarding rising sea levels I think you’ve got a couple of options that depend on what overall impact you’d want to have on participants…
option 1 – Broad, “How climate change impacts interpretation at outdoor living history sites”
option 2 – Focused, “How climate change impacts animal care at outdoor living history sites”
I somewhat conflicted on which approach. I fear option 1 might draw a wider audience, but provide a high-level understanding of the issue where option 2 might not have a niche audience with a more specific understanding of the issue.
Im leaning more to Option 2.