Arupjyoti Saikia (Indian Institute of Technology), Ling Zhang (Boston College), and Sunil Amrith (Yale University) “New Asian River Histories” (South Asian Studies Council)

This special session of the SASC colloquium features Arupjyoti Saikia and Ling Zhang, who have broken new ground in environmental history with their works on the Brahmaputra and Yellow rivers, respectively. Both have taken a deep historical approach to thinking about the shifting relationship between nature and human societies, and their works are of urgent importance in our era of accelerating climate change and massive
hydraulic engineering. The conversation will address new approaches to environmental history in South and East Asia, and will explore the value of connected and comparative perspectives on Asia’s great rivers.