Wednesday, December 3, 20255:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Bunche Hall, Rm 10383
We are pleased to announce that the next UCLA European History Colloquium will be held on Wednesday, December 3, at 5pm PST, in Bunche 10383. Catherine Dunlop, Professor of History at Montana State University, will be joining us to speak on “The Environmental History of D-Day and the Battle of the Hedgerows.”
About the Talk
While D-Day has been the subject of many military and diplomatic histories, it has yet to be examined as a complex encounter between Allied forces and the dynamic natural environment in Normandy. This northern region of France is home to numerous distinctive geographic features ranging from its windswept beaches to its wetlands and its inland hedgerow country, the bocage. How did Norman ecosystems shape Allied and German mentalities toward the battlefield? How did the violent alteration of Norman environments through military bombardment, shelling, and tank warfare impact the livelihoods of French civilian communities? An environmental history of D-Day and the Battle of the Hedgerows not only reveals nature’s impact on battlefield tactics, but it also offers a new conceptualization of warfare itself.
About the Speaker
My research explores historical conflicts over the meaning and use of natural landscapes in modern Europe. My first book, Cartophilia, examined the role of mapmakers in the French-German border dispute over Alsace-Lorraine. My second book, The Mistral, focused on the environmental history of Provence's violent and uncontrollable mistral wind. The Mistral was awarded the J. Russell Major Prize in French History and the George L. Mosse Prize in European Intellectual and Cultural History from the American Historical Association in 2025. I am currently at work on a new research project that investigates the role of environmental knowledge in the planning, execution, and aftermath of the D-Day landings in Normandy.