Frozen: A Global History of Ice, 12000BCE-2100CE . HIST 110F

Before the onset of the present-day anthropogenic climate crisis, the world had a different problem with ice. Some had too much of it, others could not have enough of it. How did people in the past overcome the challenges ice posed as a hindrance to mobility? How did they exploit it as a useful resource? As a coveted luxury? Is icebreaking no longer relevant in an age of global warming and melting polar icecaps, or does it still concern us today? In this course, we will explore how the history of ice can be understood as a history of how human beings not only adapt to natural environments but alter them for various ends amidst changes in the climates they inhabit.

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