Join Juniata College Professor Dave Hsiung for his presentation of how the revolutionary war impacted the natural world. Dr. David Hsiung is the Dr. Charles R. and Shirley A. Knox Professor of History at Juniata College, where he has taught since earning his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and his B.A. from Yale. A dedicated teacher and scholar, he has received multiple honors for excellence in the classroom, including Juniata’s Beachley Award for Distinguished Teaching and Pennsylvania’s “Professor of the Year” from the Carnegie Foundation. His research spans Appalachian history, environmental perspectives on the American Revolution, and interdisciplinary collaborations with students that bring history to life through hands-on experimentation and exploration.

The War of Independence affected the natural world in important and lasting ways. The lecture will examine deforestation at Valley Forge; raids that seized animals but also produced some surprisingly “positive” effects; and lead musket balls left on battlefields that may only now be poisoning the land. This talk offers not only new ways to think about the Revolution, but also war and the environment today.