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International Conference

 “Environmental History in Russia:

Stages of Development &

Promising Research Directions”

November 13-15, 2014 in Elabuga (Tatarstan, Russia)

Deadline for proposals is 15 August 2014

The Conference will be held in Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University. The event aims to analyze the development of historical and ecological approach in Russian historiography in recent decades, its current state and prospects.

Environmental history, the discipline that studies the interaction between man and the environment in different historical epochs, originated in the mid-twentieth century in Europe and America. By today, foreign researchers have accumulated rich historiography, methodology of environmental history has been formed, and a number of research organizations engaged in full support of historical and environmental research have been founded. However, the development of environmental history in Russia is connected with a number of objective factors, among which are the vast area of the state, which requires a special approach to the study of the various regions and the lack of institutional support of the discipline in domestic science. Developing communication between Russian historical and environmental schools and establishing contacts with foreign researchers are necessary prerequisites for the effective development of environmental history In the Russian regions.

The city of Elabuga, whose history goes back over a thousand years, has extensive experience in economic development and is surrounded by unique natural landscapes that are under state protection. Thanks to the pictures painted by Ivan Shishkin, a native of the city (“Rye”, “Rich Ravine”, “Pine Trees Lit by the Sun”) Elabuga landscapes are recognizable not only in Russia but abroad. In the second half of XIX century large chemical plants exporting products to Western Europe functioned here, which left an imprint on the environmental history of the region. Thus, Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University is a proper place to hold one of the first International Environmental Historical Conferences in the regions of Russia.

The conference programme will include reports and presentations made by participants, roundtables and a cultural program (city tours around Elabuga, banquet, pre- and postconference trips).

During the conference there will be a presentation of the leading international scientific journal “Environment and History”, published by the European Society for Environmental History with the support of the White Horse Press.

Full details on submission types and themes are in the Full Call for Papers.

Keynote speakers

David Moon, PhD, Anniversary Professor in History, Lead Investigator of Russian environmental history network (York University, Great Britain).

Stephen Brain, PhD, assistant professor of Mississippi State University (USA).