A Field on Fire

The Future of Environmental History

Bibliographic Data

ID3128233
AuthorsCaleb Wellum (0000-0002-3161-7017, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume107
Issue1
Pages147-148
Publication date2020-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of American History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jahist/jaaa015
OpenAlexW3038009316
LanguageEN
Citations received11

A Field on Fire is a stimulating collection of essays intended to “bring some clarity to what it means to write environmental history” after more than two decades of fragmentation and uncertainty about the nature of the discipline (p. 8). Edited by former students of Donald Worster—Mark D. Hersey and Ted Steinberg—the book is a festschrift for Worster that highlights his formative influence on the field and suggests “ways environmental historians might draw upon his work going forward” (ibid.). The book comprises seventeen essays, primarily authored by well-established historians with a connection to Worster, an introduction by Hersey, and an afterword by Daniel T. Rodgers. The diverse array of subjects on display demonstrates the remarkable breadth of Worster's contributions to the writing of history with nature in mind. Most of the contributors also aim to recover a sense of the moral force of Worster's work while encouraging historians to build beyond him through new methodologies, scales, and subjects. Although some essays will be useful for introducing students to particular literatures and methodological approaches within environmental history, this collection is primarily for initiates in the field desiring to reflect on Worster's influence and to define ethically engaged research trajectories that address the severe environmental challenges of the present

CLARITY · Environmental ethics · Environmental history · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Formative assessment · Sociology · American Environmental and Regional History · History · Mathematics · Philosophy

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