Zac Robinson, PhD, FRCGS

About

Dr. Zac Robinson teaches and researches Canadian history, with an emphasis on the cultural and social histories of the Rocky and Columbia Mountains. His current interests include mountaineering, travel writing, postcolonial critique, and place-based historical methods.

Employment

2017 - present  Associate Professor, Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta

2011 - 2017  Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta

2010 - 2011  Postdoctoral Fellowship (Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation), History & Classics, University of Alberta

2008 - 2010  Postdoctoral Fellow (SSHRC), History & Classics, University of Alberta

Education

2007  Ph.D. University of Alberta, Edmonton (Physical Education and Recreation)

2001  M.A. Carleton University, Ottawa (Anthropology)

1999  B.A. (Hons) Carleton University, Ottawa (Anthropology)

Service Roles

2023 - present  Governor, Board of Governors, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society

2021 - present  Chair, Expeditions Committee, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society

2018 - present  Co-Editor, State of the Mountains Report, The Alpine Club of Canada

2016 - present  Reader, The Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival

2014 - 2024  Vice President (Mountain Culture), The Alpine Club of Canada

Awards and Recognition

2024  King Charles III Coronation Medal

2023  Fellow International, The Explorers Club

2023  Silver Rope for Leadership Award, The Alpine Club of Canada

2022  Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Alberta)

2022  The Alex Trebek Medal for Geographic Literacy, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society 

2022  The Don Forest Service Award, The Alpine Club of Canada

2018  Fellow, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society

2018  Provost's Teaching Unit Award, University of Alberta Awards for Teaching Excellence 

2018  Early Undergraduate Teaching Award, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta 

Research

Books

2025  Mountain Voices: The Mountain Legacy Project and a Century of Change in Western Canada, co-edited with Eric Higgs, Mary Sanseverino, and Kristen Walsh (University of Calgary Press, Canadian History and Environment Series)

2014  Conrad Kain: Letters from a Wandering Mountain Guide, 1906-1933 (University of Alberta Press, Mountain Cairns Series)

Selected Essays, Book Chapters

2024  "Inseparably Roped: Early Club Culture, Climbing and Books," Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 107: 30-43. [Finalist, Mountain Article Prize, 2024 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival]

2022  "Last Icy Stand: Measuring Change and Resilience on Canada’s Highest Peak," Canadian Geographic, Vol. 142, No. 2 (March/April): 32-45. 

2022  "The Abbot Pass Refuge Cabin," with David Hik and Stephen Slemon, Canadian Geographic, Vol. 142, No. 4 (July/August): 22-3. [Reprinted in Best of Canadian Geographic 2022, Special Collector's Edition (Jan 2023): 28-9.]. 

2017  "A Climber's Guide," with Stephen Slemon, Canadian Rockies Annual, Vol. 2 (May): 86-9.

2016  "Hard Time in the Canadian Rockies," with Stephen Slemon, Canadian Rockies Annual, Vol. 1 (May): 64-74.

2015  "Deception in High Places: The Making and Unmaking of Mounts Brown and Hooker," with Stephen Slemon, in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 139-58.

2015  "The Shining Mountains," with Stephen Slemon, Alpinist Magazine 50 (Summer): 115-24.

2013  "After the Matterhorns," with Stephen Slemon, Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 96: 18-23.

2013  "Remembering Margaret Gold Brine," Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 96: 55-6.

Booklets, Biography

2022  Cyril Shokoples: Learning on High, The Summit Series, Biographies of Canadian Climbers, Vol 26. Canmore: The Alpine Club of Canada.

2015  Helen Sovdat: Guide, Mentor, Friend, The Summit Series, Biographies of Canadian Climbers, Vol. 21. Canmore: The Alpine Club of Canada.

2008  A Family for the Outfit: Harrisons and the General Mountaineering Camp, The Summit Series, Biographies of Canadian Climbers, Vol. 10. Canmore: The Alpine Club of Canada.

Research Symposia Organization

2025  Reading Lands and Fields: Bringing Place-Based Methods to Historical Understanding, Workshop, May 15-18, Jasper, AB

2018  Thinking Mountains: Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies Conference, Oct 2-5, Banff, AB

2015  Thinking Mountains: Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies Conference, May 5-8, Jasper, AB

2012  Thinking Mountains: Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies Conference, Dec 11-14, Edmonton, AB

Teaching

Recent Teaching Assignments

"Mountains 101" (uab.ca/mountains), a twelve-lesson Massive Open Online Course, which launched January 2017. A new cohort begins each month. 

INT D 280 The Mountain World: An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies

KRLS 204 Canadian History of Leisure, Sport, and Health

INT D 280 - The Mountain World: Introduction to Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies

An interdisciplinary study of the physical and human dimensions of mountain environments. Content includes the physical (glaciers, climate, geology, etc.), biological (flora, fauna, ecology, etc.), physiological (human bodies at altitude, performance, sport, etc.), and cultural (societies, literature's, histories, etc.) dimensions of these unique regions, as well as a critical analysis of the processes of change and influence shaping local and regional mountain environments around the globe, past and present. (Offered jointly by the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation and the Faculty of Science) [Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation]

KRLS 204 - Canadian History of Leisure, Sport, and Health

An introductory examination of Canadian leisure, sport, physical cultures, recreation, tourism, and health, in a global world, since the 19th century. Topics are integrated to understand the past in order to think broadly and critically through historical study of culture and society. Prerequisite: KRLS 104. Credit will be granted for only one of KRLS 204 or PERLS 204.

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