At the 6th Annual Yale Postdoctoral Association Symposium, which took place on the Yale University campus on May 25, 2023, I gave a talk titled “Place-Making on Mountaintops and Orogenic Ethnography on Mount Holyoke.”
Description: This talk presents an orogenic ethnography, or a contemporary archaeological ethnography of place-making on a mountain. Mount Holyoke is located in Western Massachusetts and rises above the Connecticut River Valley. It is a prominent destination for tourists and locals alike to recreate outdoors in a state park, observe the view of the valley below, and visit the historic, nineteenth-century Summit House. I explore the nature and nuances of attachment to the mountain through time, by examining conceptions of place over two centuries. This includes human engagement with four different aspects of Mount Holyoke—the view from the summit, its natural environment, its history, and its materiality—to offer a deeper understanding of how a mountain can become so special to people, how environmental and historical consciousness are interrelated, and how the attachments to place of contemporary people are influenced by collective, family, and personal memory as well as local cultural movements. In addition to presenting the theoretical framework for an orogenic ethnography, this talk will summarize the main conclusions from my research as presented in my book.
I was awarded the symposium’s Outstanding Oral Presentation Award in the 10-minute talk category.