The geography of the Arctic has long been a geography of fantasies—fantasies of manly heroism, of colonial exploitation, and especially today of climate disaster and redemption. But the real Arctic has even longer been a home to indigenous peoples and other northerners. Who pays the price when our Arctic fantasies meet reality? This talk will uncover the …
Category: Speaking
Presentation at 6th UK Arctic Science Conference
Last week I attended the 2019 UK Arctic Science Conference, the sixth in a series of biannual conferences sponsored by the UK Arctic Office and hosted this year by Loughborough University. It was a pleasure to see some familiar faces there—not only from the UK but also from Russia—to make many new acquaintances, and to …
Presentation at 2nd Model UN Advisers Conference
Yesterday, I had the privilege of giving a brief presentation about my Model Arctic Council (MAC) initiative to a conference of Model United Nations (MUN) Advisers—secondary-school teachers who encourage and support their pupils as they prepare for and participate in simulated UN diplomacy. MUN has existed almost as long as the United Nations itself, and …
Presentation at 4th Polar Educators International Workshop
This week I had the pleasure of attending the fourth Polar Educators International (PEI) Workshop, co-hosted by the Scott Polar Research Institute and Christ’s College, University of Cambridge. PEI was founded in 2012 as a legacy of the Fourth International Polar Year. It serves the vital purpose of fostering dialogue between educators and researchers in order …
Presentation at 2nd UArctic Congress
It was a pleasure to attend the 2018 UArctic Congress last week, co-hosted by the University of Oulu and the University of Helsinki in Finland. The conference was UArctic’s second large-scale meeting of scholars and other professionals dedicated to Arctic studies. I heard many interesting presentations, especially in the area of Arctic education, one of …
Presentation at UN Association Norwich
Last week I had the privilege of addressing a meeting of the United Nations Association Norwich, a branch of the UN Association of the UK, about the Arctic as a homeland. Rejecting the typical perception of the Arctic as either a pristine wilderness to be cordoned off, or a treasure chest of resources to be …
Panel discussion at 9th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences
Last weekend, I visited Umeå University in northern Sweden, where I had the honour of co-chairing a panel discussion about a pair of recent Model Arctic Council conferences at the Ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences. My co-chair, Mr Jeff Kormos of the University of Northern British Columbia, and three other panellists first considered …
Presentation at 1st UArctic Congress
Last week, I had the privilege to attend the 2016 UArctic Congress, hosted by St Petersburg University in the strikingly handsome city of St Petersburg, Russia. UArctic is a consortium of universities conducting research on the circumpolar North, and the conference involved delegates from many countries. It was the first such conference organised by UArctic—and …
Presentation at Durham University
Yesterday, Saturday the 14th May, I was at St Mary’s College at Durham University to participate in a workshop for postgraduate students and early-career scholars researching the Arctic. Our purpose was to reflect on the challenges, ethics and responsibilities involved in conducting Arctic fieldwork. Organised by two doctoral students in Durham’s Department of Geography, Johanne …
Lecture at 41st BACS conference
Tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd April, I’ll be at the British Library in London to participate in the the annual conference of the British Association for Canadian Studies (BACS) — BACS’s 41st and my third. My presentation will focus on the polar-bear sport hunt in Nunavut, based on my op-ed article “Cecil, Nanuq and Inuk” published last summer …