Zac Robinson, PhD, FRCGS
Contact
Associate Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation - Academic Programs
- zacharyr@ualberta.ca
- Phone
- (780) 492-8912
- Address
-
4-421 Van Vliet Complex - West
8831 - 116 St NWEdmonton ABT6G 2H9
- Availability
- By appointment
Overview
About
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)
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
Service Roles
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 - present Vice President (Mountain Culture), National Board of Directors, The Alpine Club of Canada
2019 - 2021 Vice Chair, Expeditions Committee, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society
2009 - 2014 Vice President (Activities), National Board of Directors, The Alpine Club of Canada
Awards and Recognition
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
My research focuses on the cultural and social histories of the Rocky and Columbia Mountains of Canada, with a specific interest in mountaineering, travel writing and postcolonial critique. My essays have appeared in numerous collections, journals and magazines, including Sport History Review, International Journal for the History of Sport, Canadian Alpine Journal, Canadian Geographic, and Alpinist. I'm the editor of Conrad Kain: Letters from a Wandering Mountain Guide, 1906-1933 (University of Alberta Press, 2014) and the co-editor of the Alpine Club of Canada's annual State of the Mountains Report. Presently, I am collaborating with Stephen Slemon (English and Film Studies, UAlberta) on a book project about early climbing history in the Rockies funded through the SSHRC Insight Program.
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 - since 2014
INT D 380 Canada's Western Cordillera: Advanced Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies - since 2022
Courses
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]
INT D 380 - Canada's Western Cordillera: Advanced Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies
Mountain Studies is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship emphasizing the interconnections between the cultural and physical dimensions of mountain environments. This senior-level course focuses on the complex processes of change that shaped, and continue to shape, Canada's Western Cordillera, with a specific emphasis on the Rocky, Columbia, and Saint Elias mountains. Melding practice and theory, this lecture-based course draws on scholarship from the across the humanities (history, cultural studies, and literature) and the Earth sciences (geology, glaciology, and meteorology) in order to place on the view the complex historical period of colonial settlement in these mountains, and the intertwining of state and commercial power, science, sport and leisure practices that put these landscapes on the map, literally and figuratively. This course will provide unique educational and training experience for senior undergraduate students interested in mountain places, peoples, and practices. Prerequisite: INT D 280; or EAS 100 or EAS 201; or Consent of the Instructor.