Lecture Announcement
"Travelling Passions: The Life and Legacy of Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the
Arctic Explorer"
2005 Stefansson Memorial Lecture
Date: Tuesday, 1 November 2005
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
Speaker: Gisli Palsson, Professor of Anthropology, University of Iceland
Canadian writer Rudy Wiebe once said of the arctic explorer and
anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962) that "Stefansson is so
fascinating a character that he must be avoided; the whale which was his
life would swallow any storyteller."
Anthropologist Gisli Palsson, who has recently published "The Hidden
Life of Vilhjalmur Stefansson," will give a lecture about Stefansson's
life and work at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of
Cambridge.
Stefansson's radical philosophy stemmed from his willingness to depend
on and learn from the Inuit while living amongst them during his
northern explorations. Unlike contemporary heroes of the extreme north,
Stefansson did not travel around or across the arctic regions; he
travelled into their cultures and environments. His legacy is closely
connected with human-environmental relations, the sustainable use of
natural resources, and the survival of northern communities now under
threat due to rapid social and environmental change.
This event is jointly sponsored by the Scott Polar Research Institute
and the Stefansson Arctic Institute and is open to the public.
For further information about Vilhjalmur Stefansson, please contact:
Dr. Michael Bravo, University Lecturer and Historian
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
E-mail: MB124 [at] CAM.AC.UK
Phone: 01223-336540
or contact:
Niels Einarsson
Director, Stefansson Arctic Institute
Visiting Scholar, Scott Polar Research Institute
E-mail: ne [at] svs.is
Phone: 01223-233201
For further information about the event, please contact:
Liz Crilley, Director's Assistant
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
E-mail: LC301 [at] CAM.AC.UK
Phone: 01223-336541