December 10th at 6pm
An online presentation by Kathryn Nasstrom
A meeting of the OHS’ Environment and Climate Change Special Interest Group
This presentation is situated at the juncture of two important trends in recent oral history research:
1- oral history and political violence;
2- oral histories of the land and environment.
I take a case study approach by focusing on Tibet, which has been subjected to political violence and environmental degradation through China’s invasion, dating back to the 1950s, and its ongoing occupation. I draw on a large body of oral history interviews conducted with Tibetan elders living in exile to make two related points: first, the importance of viewing environmental impact and degradation as a form of political violence; second, the urgency of thinking about alternatives to this violence. In the Tibetan case, environmental protection as rooted in Tibetan Buddhism.
Kathryn Nasstrom is an oral historian, writer, editor, and Professor Emerita of History at the University of San Francisco in the United States. She is a past editor of the Oral History Review and was one of the founding series editors for Oxford University Press’s oral history book series. Working within the interdisciplinary fields of oral history, life history research, and autobiographical studies, she brings textual research methods to bear on oral historical analysis.
Open to all.