Lewander Lecture
Dr Adrian Howkins
Going there: some reflection on the human dimensions of Antarctic conservation from the McMurdo Dry Valleys
This talk will use my experiences of working with the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research site as an environmental historian to examine the human dimensions of Antarctic conservation. Beginning with a reflection on the value of visiting the sites we research and write about, the talk will argue that Antarctic social scientists and humanities scholars have much to contribute to Antarctic conservation. There is, however, often a reluctance on the part of Antarctic policy makers and scientists to embrace the human dimensions of Antarctic conservation. Drawing on the history of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, and the history of Antarctica more broadly, the talk will explore this reluctance to ‘go there’ and recognise Antarctic conservation as more than a purely technical application of science to environmental management and to see it instead as something that has much to gain from insights from the humanities and social sciences.
Keynote Lecturer
Dr Consuelo León Woppke
Rethinking the origins of “the South American Antarctic” from the perspective of the 21th century: An introductory and comparative analysis.
In the middle of the last century, Latin America was struggling to define its place in the new world that was seen to emerge with the end of World War II. This concern was due to the fact that during the conflict we had aligned ourselves – to a greater or lesser degree – with the United States and it was not clear whether or not Washington's hemispheric policies would survive during the post-war period.
The spirit of the Cold War seemed to be outlining new realities at the hemispheric and Antarctic levels, and Latin American countries were concerned about how old and new U.S. policies could affect both the American and Antarctic continents.
Some American countries had shown their link with the southern and Antarctic spaces since the beginning of the century; but others, in some way motivated by certain specialists or pressure groups, joined this approach and used the concept of "South American Antarctica" after the International Geophysical Year or even after the signing of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959.
Therefore, this paper makes a brief comparative analysis of the Antarctic policies of Latin American countries between the 1940s and 1960s, emphasizing a) the origin of their interest in Antarctica; b) in their initiators and managers and c) in the main difficulties and achievements they encountered. It will be based on official and press documents found in Chilean and U.S. archives and in specialty articles.