TEACHING THE HISTORY OF GEOLOGY: RECOGNIZING AND ADDRESSING GEOLOGY’S TIES TO COLONIALISM AND IMPERIALISM

Geology courses and textbooks describe the development of the science of Geology: from Steno’s stratigraphy to plate tectonics. This narrative, though, is often reduced to a Euro-centric perspective, and fails to tie the development of Geology to broader social and historical contexts. In particular, the narrative rarely -- if ever -- addresses the role that European/U.S. colonialism and imperialism played in the development of Geology. This omission reinforces the myth that Geology was developed only in Europe, masks non-European contributions, and hides the human cost of our knowledge.

This presentation will focus on ways that we as instructors can engage students in critically examining the historical and social context in which Geology developed. This will include: 1) Examples of episodes that we can highlight where the development of Geology benefited from colonialism/imperialism. For example: Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle resulted in major advancements in Geology, not only from his development of ideas on speciation, but from his analysis of coral reef evolution and his data that supported Lyell’s freshly-published ideas on Uniformitarianism. However, the Beagle’s purposes in sailing were fundamentally colonial, and many of the long-term effects of that voyage were catastrophic for indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego. In addition to geologists riding along on colonial expeditions, Geology benefited from colonialism/imperialism as pivotal specimens and data sets were obtained via colonial/imperial methods, and as colonially-generated wealth financed the study of Geology. Additionally, 2) this presentation will include examples of issues that arise in the classroom when engaging in a discussion of colonial ties, and strategies for addressing those issues. For example: issues of race, class, and identity -- both of the discussion subjects and of the participants. Finally, 3) this presentation will summarize reasons why engaging students in these discussions is important. Geology remains one of the least diverse sciences in the U.S., and making progress toward an inclusive discipline must involve a frank examination of Geology’s social and historical role. This examination starts in the ways that we teach the history of Geology: whose stories we include, and whose we omit.