Perspectives Article
The Neo-Materialist Flip
Timothy LeCain outlines his shift from viewing technology as a departure from nature to understanding humans as materially embedded within it.
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Perspectives Article
Against Discipline
Anthony Carrigan reflects on his resistance to conventional academic structures and his turn towards literature and environmental humanities.
Perspectives Article
The Magic of Environmental History and Hopes for the Future
Christof Mauch highlights that environmental history provides a distinctive perspective by treating nature as an active agent and by bridging boundaries of time, space, and discipline.
Perspectives Article
Future Research Needs in Environmental History: Regions, Eras, and Themes
John R. McNeill emphasizes the need for environmental history to broaden its scope by addressing underexplored regions, eras, and themes.
Perspectives Article
Environmental History and Other Histories
David Blackbourn highlights how environmental history reflects broader shifts in the historical discipline, such as the renewed focus on place, materiality, and “big history.”
Perspectives Article
Broader Horizons?
Harriet Ritvo explores the intersection of environmental history and environmental concerns, emphasizing how the discipline reflects the growing awareness of global environmental challenges.
Perspectives Article
Globalizing Environmental History—Again
Franz Uekoetter examines the evolution of environmental history in the context of globalization, highlighting its early global focus and the more recent trend towards specialization and nuanced narratives.
Perspectives Article
Nations, Nature, and Environmental History
Mahesh Rangarajan explores the intersection of nation-states, borders, and nature, emphasizing how human-made boundaries conflict with the natural world’s disregard for such limits.
Perspectives Article
Mainstreaming Environmental History
Martin V. Melosi reflects on the past and future of environmental history, noting its broad scope but also its tendencies to prioritize social history and ecological concerns over certain “top-down” topics, such as the environmental politics of specific governments.
Perspectives Article
Rising to the Challenge: Linking Humanities Research and Environmental Policy
Peter Coates analyzes the UK universities’ “impact” criterion, which emphasizes measurable contributions to public policy and the economy, and uses it to highlight the distinctive relevance of environmental history.