The National Maritime Museum celebrates International Polar Year 2007 with this series of talks by explorers, artists, historians and scientists. Covering environmental, cultural, social and historical responses to the polar regions, the talks aim to uncover and examine this fast-disappearing place on Earth. Each week they will be explored from a different perspective: cultural commentators and ecologists will engage with the burning issue of climate change; historians will discuss empire-building and notions of heroism through the characters of Scott, Franklin and Shackleton; anthropologists will highlight the culture and contemporary concerns of indigenous communities and explorers will discuss their experiences.


5-week course