Rather than hand out candy to ghouls and goblins, Liza Piper, Zac Robinson and a group of graduate and undergraduate students from across the country spent last Halloween weekend exploring Banff National Park. The workshop was an excellent opportunity for those studying western Canadian environments, Banff, the Rocky Mountains, or parks more generally, to visit and learn more about the local and regional environment. While on the trip, four students brought along their travel-ledgers and recorded their tales.

Banff Reflection

A Postcard From Banff

By Ben Bradley, PhD Candidate, Queen's University

Dear NiCHE, wish you were here! The weather's been perfect and we practically have the place to ourselves...[continue reading]

Banff Reflection

Whose Community Is It Anyway? A Prince Edward Islander's View of Banff.

By Ryan O'Connor, PhD Candidate, University of Western Ontario

Since its founding, Banff's economy has been driven by the dollars of visitors seeking out its unique charms. As such, it has not had to suffer from the same “break” that Prince Edward Island has...[continue reading]

Banff Reflection

Being Urban (and Feeling Guilty About it) in Banff National Park.

By Philip Van Huizen, PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia

Cities are not the first things that usually come to mind when asked to think about national parks, but participating in the 2009 NiCHE Field School in Banff made me think about them a lot...[continue reading]

Banff Reflection

Controlling the Burn of Banff

By Alexander Dezan, MA Candidate, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Popular perception of fires is often concerned primarily with the destruction of the physical landscape, the deterioration of air quality and the posed threat to human settlement. Dramatic media coverage often feeds these perceptions....[continue reading]

This trip was generously funded by NiCHE, the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation, and the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta.