This event brings together humanities scholars from around Ohio engaged in the growing field of research that connects historical and cultural concerns to environmental and energy studies. At the roundtable, these scholars and the audience will discuss recent state and federal policies surrounding energy extraction in Ohio, such as the turn to hydraulic fracturing, changing relationships between the energy industry and state-owned land, and the Bureau of Land Management’s potential opening of Wayne National Forest to natural gas extraction. The state’s energy concerns and policies ground the diverse approaches and locales of interest at the center of each participant’s research. Through this conversation, we hope to explore ways that these approaches and topics inform local conversations and situate state energy concerns within larger discussions about the relationship between culture, history, and energy. The humanities offer a relatively untapped site for enriching our understanding of these state and local issues, and this roundtable offers a brief glimpse into that potential.

Participants include:

• Thomas S. Davis, Associate Professor of English, Ohio State University
• Mary Thomas, Associate Professor of Geography and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Ohio State University
• Marguerite S. Shaffer, Professor of American Studies and History, Miami University
• Peter A. Shulman, Associate Professor of History, Case Western Reserve University

Brian J. McAllister, Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Ohio University, will moderate the conversation.

This event is free and open to the public. Use #OHEnergy for all social media discussion of the event.