Author Archives: Robert Peckyno

Hamblin Wins the 2014 Paul Birdsall Prize

Congratulations go out to Jacob Darwin Hamblin, associate professor of history at Oregon State University, who has been selected as the winner of the 2014 Paul Birdsall Prize for his latest book Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism … Continue reading

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WW1 and Poetry at Flander’s Field

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. … Continue reading

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New Religious Studies Degree Program

More than 20 years after the religious studies degree program was eliminated, Oregon State University is bringing it back. OSU students will be able to declare religious studies as a major beginning with the upcoming winter term. The religious studies … Continue reading

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Confluences: Our 2014 Newsletter

When two rivers meet, they create a confluence. The merger of one with the other produces a stronger, more dynamic force. Confluences create opportunities for synergy. The editors of this year’s inaugural school newsletter have chosen the name Confluences to … Continue reading

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Long Live the King

Louis XIV, who saw himself as the new Alexander the Great, adopted the lion as one of his symbols. Although he didn’t wear a lion skin on his head like Alexander, real and imaginary lions surrounded him. Anita Guerrini presents … Continue reading

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War Against Nature, the Backbone of the South

“You’ve heard the phrase “war is hell.”  But you probably haven’t heard the phrase “war is when you attack agroecosystems.”  It’s a lesser known aphorism of General Sherman’s, to be sure…. But reading Lisa Brady’s book, War Upon the Land, … Continue reading

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Nature normal, humans awed

“I just found a wonderful cluster of photos purporting to show organic matter embracing and snaking its way through human-built structures.    Among these, I’m not surprised to note, is a shot by yet another photographer of the abandoned Namibian mining … Continue reading

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Environmental History on the Rails

“With summer drawing to a close, I took the opportunity to ride the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Albany, Oregon to Union Station in Los Angeles. I’d never taken the train for such a long trip, 28 hours each way. On … Continue reading

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The broad VU’

“Today I caught the tail end of a likewise provocative and beautiful exhibit of two women photographers, one capturing (like Williams) images of emptiness that remind us that people were there, in the landscape, and the other showing two sets … Continue reading

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Kati Horna — did you know Gisele Freund?

Kati Horna (nee Deutsch Blau) is featured in an exhibit at le Jeu de Paume in Paris right now. Like many women artists and intellectuals, her light has been obscured by the famous company she kept. They were both women … Continue reading

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