Dams, Trains, and Canals: Exploring the Environmental History of Ottawa

Course Description

Have you ever wondered what Ottawa would feel like without the canal? Or where the water you drink comes from? Or who lived here before it became the capital of Canada? By exploring these and other questions, you will learn about the environmental history of Ottawa from the ground up.

While we often think about the environment as natural and unchanging, we will learn about how the people of this region have been reshaping its landscape for thousands of years. Through interactive activities, we will discover how Algonquin peoples built complex societies throughout the Ottawa River watershed long before settlers arrived, how lumberjacks rafted logs down the Ottawa River, and how settler society engineered the landscape to build dams, railroads, and canals. We will also explore how people have worked to protect the lands and waterways of the region all the way up to the present day.

You will learn about these topics through engaging lectures and hands-on activities. We will go on field trips to the nearby Hartwell Locks to learn about how the Rideau Canal was built and to Archives and Special Collections at the campus library where we will examine historic maps, photographs, and engineering drawings of key sites in the region. We will also experiment with digital tools like Google Earth and StoryMaps to get creative with the sites that we have visited and studied. You will never think about the place you live the same again!