Lecture | Blue History Network Graduate Forum
Water worlds
- Date
- Tuesday 26 May 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- Conference room 2.60
Join a series of seminars putting water at the center of (historical) analysis! Explore new topics and perspectives within broader themes in this rapidly emerging field. Open to all scholars and students
interested in the blue humanities.
Water worlds
Human history is deeply intertwined with blue history, continually influencing, and being influenced by, the waters that surround and sustain us. But even as the world enters into an era increasingly referred to as the Anthropocene, identifying humans as the dominant geological force, one thing remains clear: humans depend on water, but water can, has, and likely will continue existing entirely independent of us. Fittingly, historians increasingly foreground the natural world as a dynamic entity in its own right, rather than a marginal backdrop for human affairs. Some shift the focus away from humans entirely, defying and expanding upon traditional definitions of what, exactly, constitutes a historical actor. Others broaden the scope of human histories, adopting new approaches to examine our shifting, fluid relationships with water. Challenging the very foundations of traditional methods, frameworks, and disciplinary divides, these more-than-human and deep histories of water will be the focus of this final session.
Suggested works:
- Abulafia, David. 2019. The Boundless Sea : A Human History of the Oceans. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Armitage, David, Alison Bashford, and Sujit Sivasundaram, eds. 2018. Oceanic Histories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Crane, Jeff. 2011. Finding the River : An Environmental History of the Elwha. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press.
- Demuth, Bathsheba. 2019. Floating Coast : An Environmental History of the Bering Strait. New York: Norton & Compton.
- Nagai, Kaori, ed. 2023. Maritime Animals : Ships, Species, Stories. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Blue History Network Graduate Forum
The Blue History Network Graduate Forum is a series of seminars on topics related to blue history, inviting scholars to join an ongoing conversation on key themes within this rapidly emerging field. The fluidity of water as a shared point of reference facilitates new connections and insightful discussions across traditional disciplinary boundaries, and the Graduate Forum aims to incorporate a broad range of perspectives and engage a wider audience. Each session will have an overarching theme and some suggested starting points, but participants are warmly encouraged to draw connections to their own research and interests during the discussions. The Graduate Forum will be hosted at Leiden University, with the option to attend online, and is open to all scholars interested in blue history, whether to share and deepen existing expertise or explore exciting new ways of conceptualizing and working with history.
