Exercise #2: Family Environmental History
Instructions
For Exercise #2, you will bring the environmental concepts home by looking at your own and your family environmental history.
Our lives and present environments are products of history. Our parents and grandparents grew up in very different environments from those of today. In our study of environmental history, it is helpful to think about our families’ past environments and their meaning for us today.
- Write an informal essay, between 700 and 1100 words, reflecting on your personal environmental history going back to your grandparents, parents, and your own generation. See the Exercise 2 Samples for a guide to this exercise.
- In formulating your response, consider the environments in which they and you have lived. Where were they located? What natural resources sustained your families and their communities? To what extent were those environments “natural” or human-made, native, or exotic (that is, transformed by European or other non-native species)? How have your families helped to transform their environments? Does your own ethnic and class heritage or gender play a role in the way you and your family have related to and valued the environment? How did the relationships your grandparents and parents had with their environments differ from the ones you have had in the past and wish to have in the future?
- Post your response by clicking ‘Add Submission’ below.
- Please note, you should write and edit your submission in a separate file then copy and paste it into the submission box. Once submitted to the HIST 3991 trubox site, you will not be able to edit your post.
Are you a student of HIST 3991? Click here to add a submission to this assignment.
Submissions
Family Environmental History Since the 1920s
July 30, 2023 By: Clarissa Wight
When considering the environments of my grandparents and parents compared to my own, there are many significant differences. With increasing urbanization, lifestyles in relation to the environment change drastically. My grandma on my mom’s side grew up in Saskatchewan as the youngest of 10 children. She was born in 1921 so the world she grew up in was entirely different than my own. She always talked about how hard her mom worked raising children with no running water. The first things she learned to knit were mittens and socks because she needed them to stay warm. Food and clothing were…
Environmental History of the Arens Family
July 22, 2023 By: Robin Arens
I am a first-generation Canadian. Before moving to the Sea to Sky area of British Columbia in 2015, I grew up in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in the 1990s. While the Netherlands is a country with a high population density, over half of the land in the country is used for agriculture. In pastures and on farms cows, pigs and chicken are grown for meat, dairy and eggs. Grains, potatoes and flowers (most famously tulips) are grown in fields, and various produce including tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers are grown in greenhouses. Bread, dairy, eggs and potatoes were staple foods during…
My Families Environmental History
July 6, 2023 By: Rosie Chandi
My parents and grandparents emigrated from India to Canada in the 1990’s. In this paper, I will focus on my grandparent’s story from my mother’s side along with my mother’s story because they represent my childhood and how I was raised. With that said, my grandma will be mentioned but the details of my grandpa’s side will be elaborated. My grandpa is the third youngest out of twelve siblings and my mom is the youngest out of eight siblings. My grandpa and mother were both born and raised in Punjab, India in a small village called Kotli. My grandpa and…
My Earlies days living off the Land
June 11, 2023 By: T00109988, Johanne Brar
Environmental History HIST 3991 Johanne Brar June 11, 2023 My Earlies days living off the Land My family grew up in a small one-bedroom cabin with my family of 20, and had every space of the floor used for beds. During the day we would roll up our beds, and used the living area for a living room. Our family relied on the land for food, food for animals, and hunted for fur-bearing for extra money. My family relied on the seasons to make a good living didn’t have to rely on the local store for food, and…
Family Environmental History
April 19, 2023 By: Philip Thrum
I was born in Vancouver, BC, at St. Paul’s Hospital. I grew up in Steveston; however, my parents had decided for me to be born in Vancouver as that would be my birth city for my passport. Both my parents were born in Stuttgart, Germany, and immigrated to Vancouver in 1998. My parents immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1998. Their parents grew up in various areas of Germany, which included East and West Germany during World War II. My father’s mother grew up in Zwickau, a city that was part of East Germany, also known as the DDR, Deutsche…