Episode 54: Reclaiming the Don, From Dissertation to Book
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In 2008, I interviewed Jennifer Bonnell about her work on the environmental history of the Don River Valley. It was the first episode of this podcast.
Back then, Bonnell was a doctoral student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto working on her dissertation. Today she is an assistant professor of history at York University and the author of Reclaiming the Don: An Environmental History of Toronto’s Don River Valley, a multiple award-winning book. How did this project go from dissertation to book? What was the process like? What new research did she conduct? What choices did she make in revisions and editing?
Professor Bonnell spoke with me at an event last spring at York University in the Department of History to share her journey from dissertation to book.
Guests:
Jennifer Bonnell
Works Cited:
Bonnell, Jennifer. Reclaiming the Don: An Environmental History of Toronto’s Don River Valley Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Music Credits:
“Let’s Do It!” by veezyn
“Melancholia (Trio)” by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD)
“Gargantua” by Admiral Bob
Photo Credit:
“Don flood, south from Bloor Viaduct” 1918. Source: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 33
Citation:
Kheraj, Sean. “Episode 54: Reclaiming the Don, From Dissertation to Book” Nature’s Past: Canadian Environmental History Podcast. 28 September 2016.
Sean Kheraj
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I am just reading Reclaiming the Don now, so particularly enjoyed this conversation on writing and the process of making a book, something I am now involved in.
Glad you enjoyed the episode. I thought this would be a useful one for those working on dissertations-to-books. You might also want to listen to the episode on Liza Piper’s book.