| During this session, we will explore how interdisciplinary research can provide new understandings of human-environment interactions over time. The session will focus specifically on interdisciplinary research conducted in Belize, Central America, which drew on evidence drawn from archaeological records, documentary archives (e.g. newspapers, colonial records, letters) and palaeoenvironmental proxies (e.g. pollen, charcoal, isotopes). Belize provides a valuable opportunity to consider different cultural contexts for historical human-environment interactions including the Maya cultures and phases of British Colonial governance. As a country which is particularly vulnerable to climate change, Belize provides a valuable context through which to explore ideas of resilience and adaptation in response to changing climates in the past. As such, the climate histories of Belize can inform our understanding of current and future responses to changing climates, including how this might be taught in school history. |
Professor Lizzie Rushton Elizabeth Rushton is Professor in Education and Head of the Education Division, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling, where she is Co-Programme Director of the MSc in Professional Education and Leadership. Her research expertise is interdisciplinary, drawing on the disciplines of education and geography. This includes the education and professional development of teachers, student participation in research and decision making and, human and environment interactions over time. Recent work has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Educational Research Association, Leverhulme and the Royal Society of Arts. Previously, she was Head of Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, Institute of Education, University College London where she also held roles as Research Director of UCL’s Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education and Programme Director of the MA Education. Prior to joining UCL she was the inaugural Programme Director of the secondary geography postgraduate certificate in education programme at King’s College London having worked as a secondary school geography teacher in south-east England. Her doctoral research focused on the Environmental History of Belize, Central America, funded by the AHRC and was completed in 2014. |
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