ASEH and Sustainability
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2004 ASEH/NCPH Annual Meeting
Victoria, British Columbia, March 31- April 4, 2004
Thunderbird park in Victoria.
The 2004 annual conference took place in in beautiful Victoria, at the historic Fairmont Empress Hotel. The theme of the conference was "Cultural Places and Natural Spaces: Memory, History, and Landscape" and it was a joint meeting with the National Council on Public History (NCPH).
Program
Conference Events
Plenary Session, Wednesday Evening, March 31
Environmental and Public History
Donald Worster has observed that "history ought to be more than knowledge chasing its own tail. Environmental history ought to have a few ideas to offer the public." Has environmental history answered that call? With its emphasis on communication and audience, has public history answered that call? Should historians be answering that call? Eight environmental and public historians will consider these and other questions at the plenary session.
Evening Reception, Thursday Evening, April 1
Held at the Royal British Columbia Museum
Field Trips, Friday Afternoon, April 2
Field Trip 1:
Wilderness and the Garden. Join paleobotanist Dr. Richard Hebda on a visit to a century-old industrial plant that has taken two distinct reclamation paths: as the recreational park Tod Inlet, popular with hikers and kayakers, and as the world famous tourist attraction, Butchart Gardens, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Field Trip 2:
Maritime History. Visit one of the oldest naval harbours in western North America. A naval history tour will visit Parks Canada's site Fort Rodd Hill and Esquimault Naval Museum, and the historic Dockyards.
Field Trip 3:
Canadian Forests. Join ethnobotanist Dr. Nancy Turner on a forest-related tour, which will include examples of First Nations fire-managed Garry Oak and camas ecosystem. The timing of the conference is excellent for viewing local wildflowers.
Field Trip 4:
The Uplands: Designing with Nature. Award winning urban geographer Larry McCann will lead a tour of the last neighbourhood designed by John Olmsted, including mansions and streets that were planned down to the level of placement of individual trees.
Field Trip 5:
A walking tour of Victoria's Inner Harbour. Join RBCM archaeologist Grant Keddie on a leisurely walking tour that explores the First Nations use of the harbour, the original Hudson's Bay Company headquarters, the impact of the 1858 gold rush, and the harbour's development, finishing at an excellent brew pub.
Field Trip 6:
Take a bus along the scenic Malahat Drive, looking down on Victoria, and visit Duncan in the Cowichan Valley, home of the First Nations run Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre and the BC Forest Discovery Centre.
Field Trip 7:
Skylarks and Shorebirds. Join ASEH's avid birder Kurk Dorsey in looking for skylarks and a variety of marine birds. Skylarks, very rare in North America, can be found in the fields near the Victoria airport.