Maarten Zwiers will give the RIAS Environmental History Lecture on Friday 4 October between 4pm and 6pm. His lecture is entitled ‘The meaning of wetlands’. The Roosevelt Insitute for American Studies (RIAS) organises this lecture every year.

During the lecture in the film room of the Province House at the Abdij in Middelburg, Zwiers discusses the meaning of wetlands throughout history. He focuses on different manifestations in Dutch and American films, literature and politics.

The Zwin in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the swamps in the deep south of the United States and the peat bogs in the north of the Netherlands ... these wetlands mean a lot, both to people and other organisms.

The annual RIAS-UCR Sustainable Freedoms Essay Prize will also be awarded during the meeting in the cinema. You can register for the lecture via this website.

Zwiers is assistant professor of History and American Studies and researcher in Lower Saxon language and culture at the University of Groningen. His work focuses on rural histories and cultures, particularly in the southern United States and northeastern Netherlands.