Abstract:
Prof. Brenden Rensink will share and host a discussion about his new research on histories of “wilderness” adventuring and recreation in the American West. He traces a number of unique types of wilderness experiences for which people have travelled to remote and rugged Western landscapes, seeking to answer not only what experiences they came for, but why they chose these particular locales.
This is especially pertinent when considering those who travelled from afar and from regions that had their own mountain landscapes. What was unique about the American West? These histories and analysis will be leveraged to comment on the current state of Western “wilderness” and potential futures it holds for those still seeking it for these unique experiences.
About the speaker:
Brenden W. Rensink (Ph.D., 2010) is Associate Director of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies and Associate Professor of History at Brigham Young University.
He is author of the award-winning book Native but Foreign: Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands (2018), author, co-author, editor, and co-editor of multiple books and articles on the histories of the American West, borderlands, Indigenous peoples, genocide studies, and religion, Project Manager and General Editor of the Intermountain Histories digital public history project, and Host and Producer of the Writing Westward Podcast.
Contact:
Stefan Rabitsch
Connected event:
Area Studies Guest Lecture #1: Brenden Rensink. Tuesday, August 29, 2-4 pm, HF-12 Selskapslokalet, Niels Treschows hus.