Bees to Beef: Farm(ed) Animals in Environmental History
Canadian History and Environment Summer School 2012
Schedule/Programme: available by mid-April, 2012
From sheep and pigs to mink and honey bees, domesticated animals have played an important role in transforming local environments, agricultural practices, human diets and consumer cultures in Canada. This year’s CHESS program will explore the changing place of these animals in rural economies and global commodity chains.
Home to the country’s oldest agricultural college, the University of Guelph is an ideal location to explore these themes. The university’s internationally-renowned research facilities, including the Ontario Veterinary College and the Honey Bee Research Centre, offer a starting point to our discussions of food production, animal welfare, and the science and practice of animal husbandry.
With its diverse farming community and its resurgence of interest in local and sustainable foods, the larger Guelph area will provide us with an opportunity to meet local practitioners, and to take in the tastes, sights and smells of Wellington County. Speakers, field trips, and group discussions will explore the role of science, history, and environment in breeding, raising, transporting, and processing “farmed” animals—both domesticated and wild—in rural environments.
CHESS 2012 is co-sponsored by NiCHE and the Department of History at the University of Guelph.
To apply for CHESS 2012: Send a one-page CV and a brief statement (not to exceed 100 words), indicating the relevance of your intellectual interests to this year’s theme and how you hope to benefit from participation, by email to Jennifer Bonnell (jbonnell@uoguelph.ca) by 17 FEBRUARY 2012. For more information, see the call for participants.
For more information, contact:
Jennifer Bonnell
University of Guelph
jbonnell@uoguelph.ca
Stuart McCook
University of Guelph
sgmccook@uoguelph.ca
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