1. Rivers of the Phase 1 Videoconferences, 29-30
January 2013
Anthropocene

2. About the Rivers of the Anthropocene Project
Rivers of the Anthropocene is an interdisciplinary, comparative research project
examining international river systems during the age of the Anthropocene. The
first phase of the project focuses on the Ohio River and the River Tyne since
1750. Approaching rivers and their landscapes not simply as natural phenomena
but as human artifacts, a group of international researchers seeks to provide a
rich comparative history of the interactions between humans and their river
environments. By mapping the
ecological, geographical, cultural, social, political, and scientific histories of
river systems, this research project will provide insight on current issues of
relevance to public policy, environmental conservation, and heritage
management.
www.rivers.iupui.edu

3. About the Rivers of the Anthropocene Project
Rivers of the Anthropocene Organizers
•Berry, Helen, Professor of History in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology
at Newcastle University, United Kingdom
•Kelly, Jason M., Director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute and Associate
Professor of History at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, USA
•Scarpino, Phil, Director of the IUPUI Public History Program and Professor of History
at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, USA
Director of Undergraduate Research Team at IUPUI
•Dwyer, Owen J., Associate Professor of Geography at Indiana University Purdue
University Indianapolis, USA
www.rivers.iupui.edu

4. About the Rivers of the Anthropocene Project
Research Team
•Aldred, Oscar, Research Assistant in Archaeology in the School of History, Classics, and
Archaeology at Newcastle University, United Kingdom
•Bhaduri, Anik, Director of the Global Water System Project in Bonn, Germany
•Carter, Timothy, Director of the Center for Urban Ecology, Butler University, USA
•Corsane, Gerard, Senior Lecturer in Heritage, Museum & Gallery Studies in the
International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, School of Arts and Cultures and
Dean for International Business Development & Student Recruitment in the Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences at Newcastle University, United Kingdom
•Deane-Drummond, Celia, Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, USA
•Edgeworth, Matt, Senior Archaeological Investigator at English Heritage (Cambridge) and
University of Leicester Honorary Research Fellow in Archaeology, United Kingdom
•Ellis, Erle C., Associate Professor of Geography & Environmental Systems at the
Laboratory for Anthropogenic Landscape Ecology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore
County, USA
www.rivers.iupui.edu

5. About the Rivers of the Anthropocene Project
Research Team
•Filippelli, Gabriel, Professor of Earth Sciences and Director of the Center For Urban
Health at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, USA
•Hale, Alex, Archaeological Projects Manager, Clyde River Project, Royal Commission on
the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, United Kingdom
•Kane, Stephanie C., Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Indiana
University, Bloomington, USA
•Large, Andy, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography in the School of
Geography, Politics, and Sociology at Newcastle University, United Kingdom
•Lubinski, Kenneth, Fish and Wildlife Biologist at the Upper Midwest Environmental
Sciences Center, United States Geological Survey, USA
•Martin, Pamela, Director of the Center for Earth and Environmental Science at Indiana
University Purdue University Indianapolis
•Meybeck, Michel, Senior Scientist at the Centre national de la recherche
scientifique, Paris, France
•Newman, Caron, Research Assistant in Archaeology in the School of History, Classics, and
Archaeology at Newcastle University, United Kingdom
www.rivers.iupui.edu

6. About the Rivers of the Anthropocene Project
Research Team
•Pahl-Wostl, Claudia, Director and Professor of Resources Management at the Institute
for Environmental Systems Research at the University of Osnabrück, Germany and Senior
Research Fellow at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University
•Thornton, Nigel, Director of Agulhas Applied Knowledge, United Kingdom
•Turner, Sam, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology in the School of History, Classics, and
Archaeology at Newcastle University, United Kingdom
•Williams, Mark, Senior Lecturer in Palaeobiology in the Department of Geology at
Leicester University, United Kingdom
•Zalasiewicz, Jan, Reader in Palaeobiology in the Department of Geology at Leicester
University, United Kingdom
www.rivers.iupui.edu

7. About the Rivers of the Anthropocene Project
Current Funding
•IUPUI Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Institute (MURI)
•IUPUI International Development Fund
Institutional Support
•IUPUI Arts & Humanities Institute
www.rivers.iupui.edu

8. Rivers of the Anthropocene Project:
Phase 1 Conference
On January 23-25, 2014, we will hold an international and
interdisciplinary three-day workshop / symposium in Indianapolis, IN.
During Stage I, research will be focused on river systems in North
America and Europe, with the Ohio River in the U.S. and the Tyne River
in the UK as organizational centerpieces. The proximity of IUPUI to the
Ohio and Newcastle University to the Tyne and the comparative
similarities made these rivers logical choices as focal points.
www.rivers.iupui.edu

9. Rivers of the Anthropocene Project:
Phase 1 Conference
Using two historically significant river systems, the Ohio and the Tyne, as case
studies, the “big” questions the conference seeks to answer are primarily of two types —
conceptual and methodological:
• How do scholars from across the disciplines frame the problems of environmental change
differently? In what ways does an international, comparative perspective alter their
approach?
• How do scholars from across the disciplines create an Earth Systems Science model(s) that
accounts for both emergent environmental patterns and the agency of human individuals
and societies?
• In what ways do human systems have a palpable effect on earth systems, and what is the
most useful way for humanists, social scientists, and scientists to address them?
• In what ways does an international, interdisciplinary, and collaborative approach to
international river systems create new answers and provoke new problems for
environmental scholarship?
www.rivers.iupui.edu

10. Rivers of the Anthropocene Project:
Phase 1 Goals
During Phase 1, the researchers will focus on building a research model that
integrates the theoretical, methodological, and empirical approaches of disciplines
and specialties from the sciences to the humanities.
The group will meet in January 2014 for a 3-day symposium and workshop, the
papers from which will be edited as part of an open access, peer reviewed volume.
www.rivers.iupui.edu

11. Rivers of the Anthropocene Project:
Phase 1 Timeline
January 2013: Initial videoconferences with participants
February 2013: Establish Working Groups
May-July 2013: MURI Project (historical data sets and GIS)
May 2013: Meeting at GWSP Conference
June 2013: Videoconference 1 for Working Groups
October 2013: Videoconference 2 for Working Groups
December 2013: Pre-circulation of Papers
January 2014: Rivers of the Anthropocene Phase 1
Symposium
April 2014: Chapter Drafts Due
www.rivers.iupui.edu