Left. Three Gorges Dam Under Construction. Image courtesy of Linda Butler

November 6 & 7, 2009

The Center for Columbia River History presents “Reversing the Flow: Big Dams, Power, and People in Global Perspective,” an evening reception and full-day conference to explore the historical and cultural contexts of world dams in Afghanistan, Canada, China, Ghana, India, and the Columbia River Basin. The conference will kick off with a reception to welcome our international speakers on Friday evening, November 6 at Vancouver’s Water Resources Education Center. This program will place the Columbia River into global context by offering films, images, and discussion of the historical Columbia River.

Dr. William Lang of Portland State University, and former Director of the Center for Columbia River History, will give the annual Castles Lecture as a keynote address: “Dam Sites: Big Dams and Local Politics on the Columbia and in the World. The conference will be held Saturday November 7 at Washington State University Vancouver, 14204 SE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. International speakers include Shripad Dharmadhikary, India; Tina Loo, University of British Columbia; Stephan Miescher, University of California, Santa Barbara; Linda Nash, University of Washington; and Dr. David Pietz, Washington State University.

The program will be held in conjunction with a series of free public lectures through the WSU Vancouver University Scholars program and a photographic exhibit, “The Yangtze Remembered” by Linda Butler at WSU Vancouver November 3 – December 11, 2009. Linda Butler will also present “A Photographer’s Eight Journeys to China’s Yangtze River” on December 7, 6:00 p.m. at WSU Vancouver.

All events are free to the public. Please rsvp by November 5 to Donna Sinclair, CCRH Program Manager, if you will attend the Friday evening reception: info@ccrh.org or 360-258-3289. For a full schedule see, http://www.ccrh.org/calendar.php