I can’t begin to convey the feeling of hopping between the tussocks and breathing in the scent of a hundred different heathland flowers, while skuas screech and ravens wheel in the leaden sky above. The experience is particularly moving after you’ve spent the morning ruminating about the families that homesteaded the region between the 18th and early 20th centuries. Yet, this is Svartárkot, a hands-on field school on the environmental humanities run by scholars and farmers in the ecologically vital Mývatn region, at the edge of Iceland´s brooding central highlands. The entire course is knowledgeably managed by Viðar Hreinsson and a team of local and international experts (including environmental scholars, archaeologists, as well as ranchers and farmers). It unites their scholarly expertise with a lifetime´s experience of the landscape and culture. So, while the course is well choreographed to ensure that participants get the most out of their two-week stay at the cozy Kiðagil guesthouse–with an abundance of insightful lectures and seminars, and exceptional hospitality–it is also spontaneous enough that we found ourselves, for example, making traditional lichen soup when we chanced upon a large patch of lófa, and eating berries and angelica off the hillsides during our many hikes through the achingly beautiful Bárðardalur valley. It´s hard to express how exciting it is to explore a long abandoned shieling or the remains of a medieval mead hall, after hearing an expert lecture knowledgeably about the site that morning. As an historian who is increasingly interested in the Icelandic past, this was a unique and invaluable experience. It continues to resonate and reshape my interests and priorities long after I have left the valley. I hope that I one day get to return!
“My time at the Svartarkot Nature-Culture course completely reformed my approach to, and practice of, interdisciplinary methodologies. As an early career scholar with a background in literary studies, I came to this course with a desire to think beyond the traditional frameworks of my field of study. What I discovered was an immersive learning experience. By ambling through woodland forests, basking in the mists of waterfalls, and climbing through the beautiful Bárðardalur valley, we set the terms for conducting research that went well beyond the page. Our foray into literary studies, geology, (zoo)archaeology, agriculture, economics, biology, and local and family histories opened up our eyes to a holistic view of living in and responding to the environment.
Since the course, I have begun to practice interdisciplinary methods in my research. Instead of limiting my work to contemporary literary texts, I have expanded the breadth of my analysis to include travel diaries, zoological archives, visual art (photography, digital representations of data, and painting), museological analysis, field work, and interviews. As a result, my thinking and analysis about the intersection of literature into other fields has led to far more interesting observations than would have been possible with traditional frameworks.
Above and beyond the learning experiences, I met lifelong friends in this course who continue to inspire me. While academia often results in a daily grind that takes its toll on our mental and emotional faculties, this course offered us an opportunity to slow down, breathe, think, and reflect. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who needs to hit the reset button on their academic journey, or to those seeking a reprieve, however momentary, from life behind a computer desk.”
I joined the Svartárkot course to learn more about the different approaches to study human and lake relationships. What I found most impressive is that the scholars that we got to learn from know and have relations to the the land and the places that we visited and worked with, which is very atypical for the academy altogether. My breath was taken away by many of the landscapes, but if we had visited them alone, without learning the context and the stories attached to these places, it would have been a completely different experience. All of our senses, as well as our intellect, were both challenged and nurtured. This interactive summer school, even though relatively short in time, leaves you with lifelong connections and memories, as well as a renewed desire for active and place-based scholarship. Vidar and his team, including the hosts, were amazing and I feel lucky to have learned from them directly. I would do it again!
Overall, I had an amazing experience at Svartákot, a program which brings about a true meeting of interdisciplinary specialists and experts passionate about the Mývatn region in Iceland to discuss important issues about the environment of the region and how it has changed over time. The course included many disciplines, such as economists and literary scholars that provided unique perspectives to the conversations. These discussions are even more important as humans continue to interact with and change the environment around them.
As a master’s student in an anthropology program focusing on archaeology, this program was extremely instrumental in not only providing in-depth information about this region, but in providing space to discuss how the framing of the environment both in the past and present can impact the directions of the research and the understanding of a changing climate by the public. Interacting with the environment and sites on excursions also allowed me to better understand the topic in a way that just a classroom setting would not allow.
The region was beautiful and included some of the most awe-inspiring vistas to be seen. However, my favorite thing about the program were the amazing and long-lasting connections that were created between the amazing instructors and participants.