Launch of the Oxford Environmental History Network (OEHN)
Detail of a miniature of bees collecting nectar and returning to their hive, from a bestiary with theological texts, England, c. 1200 – c. 1210,
The Oxford Environmental History Network (OEHN) is a new network aimed at fostering a community of environmental historians in Oxford.
The idea for the network arose when three doctoral students – Harriet Mercer, Netta Cohen and Eiko Honda – realised that there were a number of scholars working at Oxford in the exciting field of environmental history, but they were largely unaware of each other's research because of disciplinary boundaries that tend to group historians by period and place. Inter-disciplinary boundaries also separated environmental historians from overlapping fields such as archaeology and anthropology.
The new network hopes to bridge these divides by using our online platform to
- connect researchers confronting similar conceptual and methodological challenges, even if working across different regions and time periods
- showcase environmental history research being undertaken at Oxford
- publicise relevant events and opportunities occurring both at Oxford as well as internationally
OEHN is linked to the Oxford Centre for Global History, which takes ecology as one of its key themes. Environmental historians have been at the forefront of the emerging field of global history as they tackle the enduring theme of human's changing ecological entanglements over time.
In partnership with the Centre for Global History, OEHN will be hosting its first graduate workshop – 'Writing History in the Anthropocene?' – in May 2018. For details about how to apply please see:
If you would like to join the OEHN, please send a short research bio and photograph to oehn@history.ox.ac.uk.
