The SCAR Standing Committee on the Humanities and Social Sciences (SC-HASS), brings together researchers working on Antarctic humanities and social sciences, in such fields as history, geopolitics, law, or literature. These fields of study are not necessarily what first springs to mind when thinking about the Antarctic; it is more commonly associated with penguins than people. However, the humanities have an important place in Antarctic research. This chapter by SC-HASS member Dr Hanne Nielsen, in the Handbook of the Changing World Language Map, explains how the field of HASS-based Antarctic studies emerged, and why we need to consider how we talk about, think about, and interact with Antarctica.
Knowledge, Language, and Antarctica: Teaching, Studying, and Theorizing at the Ends of the Earth
Abstract
Antarctica may be located at the end of the earth, but it plays an important role in global earth systems. As a remote and hostile continent, it is difficult to visit, and yet cultural representations of “the ice” abound. The language we choose to deploy when talking about the far south matters because it has implications for the ways we conceive of that place. This chapter provides an overview of Antarctic-focused education and training from a humanities and social sciences point of view. It introduces various language relationships with the continent, outlines key research challenges and directions, and highlights important journals, conferences, and research resources related to Antarctica. The chapter argues that quality, ongoing Antarctic humanities, and social sciences research and teaching are central to ensuring knowledge and language questions about teaching and studying on and about the southern continent are critically addressed.
Reference: Nielsen H.E.F. (2018) Knowledge, Language, and Antarctica: Teaching, Studying, and Theorizing at the Ends of the Earth. In: Brunn S., Kehrein R. (eds) Handbook of the Changing World Language Map. Springer, Cham