Historical Ecology Wikiproject - seeking editors

Below is a copy of the email we sent regarding our new encyclopedic endeavor.


Greetings!

We are undergraduate anthropology students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  This past semester we took a course in Historical Ecology in which we were challenged to develop a project that enhanced education in the subject.  We chose to create a historical ecology wikiproject to unite diverse researchers interested in improving the quality and quantity of wikipedia articles relevant to the topic of historical ecology, and we invite you to join our efforts. 

Specifically, we hope to encourage fellow project editors to join us in researching and composing sections of articles on the historical ecology of their own regions - we have already begun work on a new historical ecology section for the Jefferson County, Alabama wikipedia article.  We are seeking anyone interested in investing time and effort into developing similar sections for their own location's wiki article page.

If we gather enough support and our proposal becomes an actual project, we hope over time the wikiproject will both foster a greater public understanding of human/environment interactions and also encourage dialogue between theoretically diverse researchers from many different bioregions.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us - our information is below.    

Here is the link to our wikiproject proposal page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Proposals/Historical_Ecology
For more information on wikiprojects, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiProject

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to collaborating with you.

With all our regards and respect,

Anna McCown
admccown@uab.edu

Lindsay Whiteaker
lins090@uab.edu

Jake Delisle
jdelisle@uab.edu

Upcoming Cultural Events at UAB

UAB in Nepal to host free screening of “Himalaya” Nov. 19
"Himalaya" is a story set against the backdrop of the Nepalese Himalayas. At an altitude of five thousand meters in the remote mountain region of Dolpo, this is the story of villagers who take a caravan of yaks across the mountains, carrying rock salt from the high plateau down to the lowlands to trade for grain. An annual event, the caravan provides the grain that the villagers depend on to survive the winter. 

Hello everyone!

Don't forget about the WSA Game Night tomorrow!

Date: Thursday Nov. 18th

6:00 PM

Place: I - House

 

FREE DELICIOUS FOOD!

AWESOME PEOPLE!

Come and Join us :)

--
World Student Association

More gathering adventures

Update on our booty from last week's gathering trips.


Wednesday we traveled a few miles east of Birmingham to gather cane and chert.  We scavenged a drainage ditch and discovered several viable (hopefully) pieces of chert, a few fossils, and pebbles for our indoor plants among the fill.  Also gathered some dandelion greens and wild onions to toss into a salad and some a few pieces of bamboo from a nearby canebreak.  

Jake has finished another piece of locally extracted greenstone as well, this time crafting a pendant necklace with in-laid glass beads.  


Friday we went to a sinkhole in the Springville/Oneonta area and collected a couple of bucketfuls of indigenous clay, with which we hope to simultaneously craft teaching materials for a southeast Native American module and holiday tribute for kin.  

Considering the "unimaginable" future...

The folks over at Worldchanging: Bright Green posted a 2007 TED talk given by their founder Alex:

He makes some interesting points about the future, namely that a sustainable one is unimaginable because we don't know how (yet) to integrate environmental and human rights concerns into something shareable with all cultures.  He then talks about the purpose of Worldchanging as providing information on how this future is already happening worldwide and gives several examples of local solutions in various parts of the global South.  Alex's examples show that solutions are most effective when they are  developed according to the context of the problems they solve - when they are unique to the environments in which they will be implemented.  Such ideas may not necessarily translate to a global scale because they are unique to specific peoples and places.  Our readings from our historical ecology class (taught by the righteous and glamorous Sharyn Jones) have been discussing similar issues in terms of activism in Environmental Anthropology.  As we all figure out how to navigate our paths to the future , it is imperative to remember that broad systemic changes must take place alongside local, grassroots, context specific movements in order for sustainability to become valued and pursued as a human right.   Through this blog and the blogs of our classmates (the garden girls and the the pescetarian project), we hope to work from both ends, documenting local and global movements for change.

Birmingham Food Summit Nov. 12-13

This weekend the Greater Birmingham Community Food Partnership is hosting the fifth annual Birmingham Food Summit.  All currently involved or interested in becoming involved with our local food system are welcome to attend to network, celebrate Birmingham's rich food culture, and talk about issues and solutions regarding food security in central Alabama.  


Activities include breakout sessions on a variety of topics including school lunches and community gardens, a bus and bike tour of Birmingham's community gardens, canning classes, a cooking demonstration, and a kid-friendly meal that costs $2.78 per person prepared by Slow Food Birmingham and Whole Foods Market.


Scholarships are available for the conference fees, but applications must be in by Thursday, November 11.  Registration for all attendees is required (register here).


Hope to see you there!!!

Changing Education Paradigms

Upcoming Cultural Event at UAB

Time

Wednesday, November 17 · 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Location

Heritage Hall Room 102

Did ancient Maya prophesies predict an end of days coming in December of 2012? Is modern science collecting evidence that an apocalypse is indeed upon is? Or are modern spiritualists correct that we are entering a new age of enlightenment and peace? Renowned Maya scholar Dr. Edwin Barnhart will separate fact from fiction in his fascinating lecture, "2012: The End of Days?" on November 17, 2010 at the campus of UAB in Heritage... Hall Room 102 at 7 p.m. This is event is sponsored by the UAB Lecture Series Committee.

Maya Exploration Center Director, Barnhart has two decades of experience in Mesoamerica as an archaeologist, an explorer and an instructor. While working in Belize, Barnhart discovered the ancient city of Ma'ax Na (Monkey House), a major center of the Classic Maya Period. He mapped over 600 structures at Ma'ax Na between 1995 and 1997 before moving his research focus to Chiapas, Mexico. While working on The Palenque Mapping Project, he documented over 1100 new structures, bringing the site total to almost 1500. The resultant map has been celebrated as one of the most detailed and accurate ever made of a Maya ruin.

Barnhart received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. He is a Fellow of the Explorer's Club and teaches National Science Foundation classes for college professors on Maya astronomy and sacred geometry.

For more information, please contact the UAB Office of Student Involvement in the Hill University Center Room 440 or call 205.934.8020.