Books by Dr. Dawn Alexandrea Berry
Though it has been home for centuries to indigenous peoples who have mastered its conditions, the... more Though it has been home for centuries to indigenous peoples who have mastered its conditions, the Arctic has historically proven to be a difficult region for governments to administer. Extreme temperatures, vast distances, and widely dispersed patterns of settlement have made it impossible for bureaucracies based in far-off capitals to erect and maintain the kind of infrastructure and institutions that they have built elsewhere. As climate change transforms the polar regions, this book seeks to explore how the challenges of governance are developing and being met in Alaska, the Canadian Far North, and Greenland, while also drawing upon lessons from the region's past. Though the experience of each of these jurisdictions is unique, their place within democratic, federal systems and the prominence within each of them of issues relating to the rights of indigenous peoples situates them as part of an identifiably 'North American Arctic.' Today, as this volume shows, their institutions are evolving to address contemporary issues of security, environmental protection, indigenous rights, and economic development.
Papers by Dr. Dawn Alexandrea Berry
Cold Science, 2019
This chapter considers how late-19th and early-20th century Polar explorers shaped American forei... more This chapter considers how late-19th and early-20th century Polar explorers shaped American foreign policy in the Arctic and facilitated the creation of American military bases in Greenland. Through case studies of Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, and Bernt Balchen, it argues that the explorers were critical nodes linking academic, military, and foreign policy spheres, and that the bases were important physical locations for the integration of these spheres. Additionally, it examines how interwar-period advances in aviation, combined with strategic necessity during World War II, helped to codify structures, institutions, and policies used to advance Cold War-era scientific and military objectives in the Arctic.
Business History, 2016
Abstract This article examines the process through which the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) ... more Abstract This article examines the process through which the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) obtained information regarding the Greenlandic cryolite industry during World War 2 in order to explore the ways in which distance affects the circulation of environmental knowledge for resource extraction in times of crisis. It argues that the war forced Alcan to radically alter its means of acquiring information about the Greenlandic operations. The information eventually acquired about the nature of the cryolite mine revealed the environmental and logistical challenges of doing business in the Arctic, and encouraged the company to seek synthetic alternatives to the scarce natural resource it obtained from the region.
Governing the North American Arctic, 2016
The Fallible Body: Narratives of Health, Illness & Disease, 2010
In the fall of 2002 British police began an investigation into a late term abortion. The foetus w... more In the fall of 2002 British police began an investigation into a late term abortion. The foetus was aborted after seven months, well into the third trimester of pregnancy, because it had a cleft lip. Under British law abortion after the six-month mark is illegal. There is an exception to the law, however, in cases where the child would have a ‘serious handicap.’ Although many would agree that a cleft lip, and/or palate, is not a serious handicap under the current system in Britain it is left to individual doctors to decide whether a handicap is serious enough to warrant a late-term abortion. The aforementioned investigation not only ignited heated emotional debate, but also highlighted the lack of public education, and academic discourse on cleft lip and/or palates. The most common facial birth defect Clefts can range in aesthetic severity, and often have a number of associated problems, which can include feeding, hearing, and speech. Although historically having a cleft lip drastically affected a person’s quality of life, current medical technology enables most people affected by clefts to live perfectly ‘normal’ lives. Today, however, the same medical technologies that are helping repair clefts are also causing a new set of medical and ethical issues. Health care costs and increased parental role in medical care, in combination with new early detection technology, have forced parents, doctors and governments to make increasingly difficult decisions. This essay will detail the events of the recent British court case, and highlight the liminal status of cleft lip and palate patients in the proceedings. Specifically, this chapter seeks to elucidate select ethical issues associated with cleft lip and/or palates with the hope of stimulating greater academic discourse, and scholarship on the subject.
International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 2011
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 2154896x 2012 735037, Dec 1, 2012
On April 9, 1940 Germany invaded Demark. Instantly the fate of Greenland, a Danish colony, was th... more On April 9, 1940 Germany invaded Demark. Instantly the fate of Greenland, a Danish colony, was thrust into limbo. The Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) had particularly self-interested concerns in the future of the island. In 1940 Greenland was home to the world’s only working mine and known major deposit of natural cryolite, a mineral essential to the aluminum smelting process. The Danish had been in control of cryolite mining and refining since its initial commercial development and a German occupied Denmark posed a major threat to the global cryolite supply. This paper discusses the ways in which cryolite and the Canadian aluminium industry influenced Canada’s role in the genesis of the American occupation of Greenland and considers lessons that can be gleaned from the past for contemporary Greenlandic industry and society.
Cold Science: Environmental Knowledge in the North American Arctic During the Cold War, 2019
This chapter considers how late-19th and early-20th century Polar explorers shaped American forei... more This chapter considers how late-19th and early-20th century Polar explorers shaped American foreign policy in the Arctic and facilitated the creation of American military bases in Greenland. Through case studies of Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, and Bernt Balchen, it argues that the explorers were critical nodes linking academic, military, and foreign policy spheres, and that the bases were important physical locations for the integration of these spheres. Additionally, it examines how interwar-period advances in aviation, combined with strategic necessity during World War II, helped to codify structures, institutions, and policies used to advance Cold War-era scientific and military objectives in the Arctic.
On Thin Ice is a Matrix Game designed to introduce seven or more players to the Arctic region, it... more On Thin Ice is a Matrix Game designed to introduce seven or more players to the Arctic region, its major actors, and its most important dynamics in a four-round game over the course of three hours.
While climate change is the underlying reason for the game, it is the effects of climate change that are revealed through gameplay. In particular, On Thin Ice highlights the complex interactions between local populations, national governments, and multinational corporations in the region. In so doing, On Thin Ice enables players to not only learn more about regional dynamics in the Arctic, but to experience how moments of crisis impact global geopolitics and security in a tangible way.
The game is structured to demonstrate the complex regional, national, and transnational dynamics in the Arctic. The most important of these are climate change, geopolitics, resources, and development. The effects of climate change are the underlying reason for the game; the Arctic is changing and how the major actors react to that change is the core problem the players need to address. Climate change is represented through a series of preformatted Climate Change cards the Facilitator uses to describe the changing environmental conditions in the Arctic throughout the game. On Thin Ice is not solely a climate change game, although the Facilitator could use it as such.
The geopolitics of the region are modeled through the game design player selection. In general, for the past decade there has been a consensus amongst Arctic states that it is a “zone of cooperation.” However, the rise of China as nascent superpower with global ambitions and a re- emerging Russia are changing the dynamic of the region.
The major actors represented in the game (either as player countries or through game design) are the “Arctic Eight” (including Greenland), and China. The game also represents a number of Arctic indigenous peoples (outlined below). The game is framed by The Arctic Council – the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states. Although notably the Arctic Council is not a security forum, broader geopolitics and security concerns often impact the Council and its membership.
This article examines the process through which the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) obtained ... more This article examines the process through which the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) obtained information regarding the Greenlandic cryolite industry during World War 2 in order to explore the ways in which distance affects the circulation of environmental knowledge for resource extraction in times of crisis. It argues that the war forced Alcan to radically alter its means of acquiring information about the Greenlandic operations. The information eventually acquired about the nature of the cryolite mine revealed the environmental and logistical challenges of doing business in the Arctic, and encouraged the company to seek synthetic alternatives to the scarce natural resource it obtained from the region.
This paper examines the consequences of the United States’ application of the Monroe Doctrine to ... more This paper examines the consequences of the United States’ application of the Monroe Doctrine to Greenland for the governance of the island’s security. Among those consequences has been the establishment of US military bases, some of which continue to play key roles in US national security. It explores the probable consequences for US policy of two major developments: those of Greenland’s gradual move to full independence from Denmark, and of the warming of the Arctic region.
On April 9, 1940 Germany invaded Demark. Instantly the fate of Greenland, a Danish colony, was th... more On April 9, 1940 Germany invaded Demark. Instantly the fate of Greenland, a Danish colony, was thrust into limbo. The Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) had particularly self-interested concerns in the future of the island. In 1940 Greenland was home to the world’s only working mine and known major deposit of natural cryolite, a mineral essential to the aluminum smelting process. The Danish had been in control of cryolite mining and refining since its initial commercial development and a German occupied Denmark posed a major threat to the global cryolite supply. This paper discusses the ways in which cryolite and the Canadian aluminium industry influenced Canada’s role in the genesis of the American occupation of Greenland and considers lessons that can be gleaned from the past for contemporary Greenlandic industry and society.
Proceedings Artek Event 2013: Sustainability in Mining in the Arctic, 2013
The June 1963 issue of World Mining announced that the ore body of the cryolite mine in Ivigtut, ... more The June 1963 issue of World Mining announced that the ore body of the cryolite mine in Ivigtut, Greenland had been mined out. This marked the first major ore mineral to be completely depleted in the modern world. Although cryolite exists in small quantities elsewhere Greenland was the only major commercial source of the mineral. In the early 20th century cryolite was used in the manufacturing process of aluminium and was essential to the war-time production of aircraft. During the Second World War several multi-national companies took an interest in both cryolite and Greenland itself. Once corporate reliance on cryolite abated, so too did its interest in the island. Drawing from the closed company archives of the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan – now RioTintoAlcan) this paper will highlight lessons that can be learned from the history of cryolite for contemporary industry.
Excerpt:
History has shown that Arctic sovereignty is not static. Rather, it is a constantly cha... more Excerpt:
History has shown that Arctic sovereignty is not static. Rather, it is a constantly changing legal, intellectual, and political construct that is most mutable in times of crisis. In light of current fears about dwindling natural resources, a global recession, and global warming, this book could not have come at a better time. Polar Imperative is a book that needed to be written and one that should be read.
In 1989, the third English edition of the Pernkopf anatomy text was published. It received positi... more In 1989, the third English edition of the Pernkopf anatomy text was published. It received positive reviews in several medical journals. In under a decade, however, Pernkopf's political affiliations, the Nazi symbols contained within the atlas, and the dubious origins of the bodies used as models in the text came to light.
The resulting debate concerned itself primarily with the relationship of the text to the holocaust, many arguing that the text should be expunged from medical literature. This thesis, however, examines the factors that led to the delay in the reevaluation of the atlas within the neglected contexts of the history of anatomy and medical practice. It argues that the delay in the reevaluation of the Pernkopf text can not be attributed to ignorance. Rather the long postponement in the reevaluation of the text was the result of a fundamental ideological shift in the public perception of Nazi medicine.
The Fallible Body: Narratives of Health, Illness, and Disease , 2010
In the fall of 2002 British police began an investigation into a late term abortion. The foetus w... more In the fall of 2002 British police began an investigation into a late term abortion. The foetus was aborted after seven months, well into the third trimester of pregnancy, because it had a cleft lip. Under British law abortion after the six-month mark is illegal. There is an exception to the law, however, in cases where the child would have a ‘serious handicap.’ Although many would agree that a cleft lip, and/or palate, is not a serious handicap under the current system in Britain it is left to individual doctors to decide whether a handicap is serious enough to warrant a late-term abortion. The aforementioned investigation not only ignited heated emotional debate, but also highlighted the lack of public education, and academic discourse on cleft lip and/or palates. The most common facial birth defect Clefts can range in aesthetic severity, and often have a number of associated problems, which can include feeding, hearing, and speech. Although historically having a cleft lip drastically affected a person’s quality of life, current medical technology enables most people affected by clefts to live perfectly ‘normal’ lives. Today, however, the same medical technologies that are helping repair clefts are also causing a new set of medical and ethical issues. Health care costs and increased parental role in medical care, in combination with new early detection technology, have forced parents, doctors and governments to make increasingly difficult decisions. This essay will detail the events of the recent British court case, and highlight the liminal status of cleft lip and palate patients in the proceedings. Specifically, this chapter seeks to elucidate select ethical issues associated with cleft lip and/or palates with the hope of stimulating greater academic discourse, and scholarship on the subject.
Talks by Dr. Dawn Alexandrea Berry
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Books by Dr. Dawn Alexandrea Berry
Papers by Dr. Dawn Alexandrea Berry
While climate change is the underlying reason for the game, it is the effects of climate change that are revealed through gameplay. In particular, On Thin Ice highlights the complex interactions between local populations, national governments, and multinational corporations in the region. In so doing, On Thin Ice enables players to not only learn more about regional dynamics in the Arctic, but to experience how moments of crisis impact global geopolitics and security in a tangible way.
The game is structured to demonstrate the complex regional, national, and transnational dynamics in the Arctic. The most important of these are climate change, geopolitics, resources, and development. The effects of climate change are the underlying reason for the game; the Arctic is changing and how the major actors react to that change is the core problem the players need to address. Climate change is represented through a series of preformatted Climate Change cards the Facilitator uses to describe the changing environmental conditions in the Arctic throughout the game. On Thin Ice is not solely a climate change game, although the Facilitator could use it as such.
The geopolitics of the region are modeled through the game design player selection. In general, for the past decade there has been a consensus amongst Arctic states that it is a “zone of cooperation.” However, the rise of China as nascent superpower with global ambitions and a re- emerging Russia are changing the dynamic of the region.
The major actors represented in the game (either as player countries or through game design) are the “Arctic Eight” (including Greenland), and China. The game also represents a number of Arctic indigenous peoples (outlined below). The game is framed by The Arctic Council – the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states. Although notably the Arctic Council is not a security forum, broader geopolitics and security concerns often impact the Council and its membership.
History has shown that Arctic sovereignty is not static. Rather, it is a constantly changing legal, intellectual, and political construct that is most mutable in times of crisis. In light of current fears about dwindling natural resources, a global recession, and global warming, this book could not have come at a better time. Polar Imperative is a book that needed to be written and one that should be read.
The resulting debate concerned itself primarily with the relationship of the text to the holocaust, many arguing that the text should be expunged from medical literature. This thesis, however, examines the factors that led to the delay in the reevaluation of the atlas within the neglected contexts of the history of anatomy and medical practice. It argues that the delay in the reevaluation of the Pernkopf text can not be attributed to ignorance. Rather the long postponement in the reevaluation of the text was the result of a fundamental ideological shift in the public perception of Nazi medicine.
Talks by Dr. Dawn Alexandrea Berry
While climate change is the underlying reason for the game, it is the effects of climate change that are revealed through gameplay. In particular, On Thin Ice highlights the complex interactions between local populations, national governments, and multinational corporations in the region. In so doing, On Thin Ice enables players to not only learn more about regional dynamics in the Arctic, but to experience how moments of crisis impact global geopolitics and security in a tangible way.
The game is structured to demonstrate the complex regional, national, and transnational dynamics in the Arctic. The most important of these are climate change, geopolitics, resources, and development. The effects of climate change are the underlying reason for the game; the Arctic is changing and how the major actors react to that change is the core problem the players need to address. Climate change is represented through a series of preformatted Climate Change cards the Facilitator uses to describe the changing environmental conditions in the Arctic throughout the game. On Thin Ice is not solely a climate change game, although the Facilitator could use it as such.
The geopolitics of the region are modeled through the game design player selection. In general, for the past decade there has been a consensus amongst Arctic states that it is a “zone of cooperation.” However, the rise of China as nascent superpower with global ambitions and a re- emerging Russia are changing the dynamic of the region.
The major actors represented in the game (either as player countries or through game design) are the “Arctic Eight” (including Greenland), and China. The game also represents a number of Arctic indigenous peoples (outlined below). The game is framed by The Arctic Council – the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states. Although notably the Arctic Council is not a security forum, broader geopolitics and security concerns often impact the Council and its membership.
History has shown that Arctic sovereignty is not static. Rather, it is a constantly changing legal, intellectual, and political construct that is most mutable in times of crisis. In light of current fears about dwindling natural resources, a global recession, and global warming, this book could not have come at a better time. Polar Imperative is a book that needed to be written and one that should be read.
The resulting debate concerned itself primarily with the relationship of the text to the holocaust, many arguing that the text should be expunged from medical literature. This thesis, however, examines the factors that led to the delay in the reevaluation of the atlas within the neglected contexts of the history of anatomy and medical practice. It argues that the delay in the reevaluation of the Pernkopf text can not be attributed to ignorance. Rather the long postponement in the reevaluation of the text was the result of a fundamental ideological shift in the public perception of Nazi medicine.
http://www.footballersunited.co.uk/
The series tracks the development of the European crisis day by day, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand through to the first week of the conflict. As well as the war, it gives an insight into the wider context of the world in 1914 including the threat of civil war in Ireland, the sensational trial of Madame Caillaux in France and the suffragettes' increasingly violent campaign for votes for women.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03t8m6h
Perceptions of the war have been shaped to a great extent by the artists of the time, including poets, writers, painters, sculptors, photographers and film-makers, many of whom served, and who reflected on the war and its effects. Their work had a profound and lasting impact.
Now, one hundred years later, we invite contemporary artists from the UK and around the world to explore the resonance of the First World War today.
Working with cultural organisations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, 14-18 NOW commissions large-scale special projects. These are selected to encourage people from every community to reflect on how the First World War has shaped today’s world and our attitudes to conflict now.
Many of the events are free, and our interactive website is designed to encourage the active participation of young people. Events are taking place on both a national and regional scale, across all art-forms and digital media
The programme runs for three years; 2014, 2016 and 2018.
For each of these key dates, 14-18 NOW presents a season of commissioned events around the UK over 6-8 weeks.
14-18 NOW is an independent programme hosted within Imperial War Museums and receives public funding from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.
http://www.1418now.org.uk/
The century since the end of the Napoleonic wars had been the most peaceful era Europe had known since the fall of the Roman Empire. In the first years of the twentieth century, Europe believed it was marching to a golden, happy, and prosperous future. But instead, complex personalities and rivalries, colonialism and ethnic nationalisms, and shifting alliances helped to bring about the failure of the long peace and the outbreak of a war that transformed Europe and the world.
The War That Ended Peace brings vividly to life the military leaders, politicians, diplomats, bankers, and the extended, interrelated family of crowned heads across Europe who failed to stop the descent into war: in Germany, the mercurial Kaiser Wilhelm II and the chief of the German general staff, Von Moltke the Younger; in Austria-Hungary, Emperor Franz Joseph, a man who tried, through sheer hard work, to stave off the coming chaos in his empire; in Russia, Tsar Nicholas II and his wife; in Britain, King Edward VII, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, and British admiral Jacky Fisher, the fierce advocate of naval reform who entered into the arms race with Germany that pushed the continent toward confrontation on land and sea.
There are the would-be peacemakers as well, among them prophets of the horrors of future wars whose warnings went unheeded: Alfred Nobel, who donated his fortune to the cause of international understanding, and Bertha von Suttner, a writer and activist who was the first woman awarded Nobel’s new Peace Prize. Here too we meet the urbane and cosmopolitan Count Harry Kessler, who noticed many of the early signs that something was stirring in Europe; the young Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty and a rising figure in British politics; Madame Caillaux, who shot a man who might have been a force for peace; and more. With indelible portraits, MacMillan shows how the fateful decisions of a few powerful people changed the course of history.
Taut, suspenseful, and impossible to put down, The War That Ended Peace is also a wise cautionary reminder of how wars happen in spite of the near-universal desire to keep the peace. Destined to become a classic in the tradition of Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August, The War That Ended Peace enriches our understanding of one of the defining periods and events of the twentieth century.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The New York Times Book Review • The Economist • The Christian Science Monitor • Bloomberg Businessweek • The Globe and Mail
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/105817/the-war-that-ended-peace-by-margaret-macmillan
Dawn Alexandrea Berry is a postdoctoral research associate—diplomatic history, foreign policy, and security studies—at the Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University. She lives in Ithaca, New York, and has been a member since 2012.