Announcement of 2021 Historian in Residence
C.W. Gross is the 2021 Historian in Residence
2021 Historian in Residence
C.W. (Cory) Gross is a professional educator with over 20 years of experience in museums and heritage. His primary field is the geology of Western Canada and its intersection with Indigenous, settler, and immigrant histories. In early 2020 he published his first book, The Ice Age in Western Canada.
About his research
Cory believes that there is no clear line between history and prehistory. Natural and cultural history are closer than we imagine, because our shared histories, cultures, and economies are ultimately shaped by the land and its resources. This is especially true of a city like Calgary that is built of sandstone, fuelled by the natural resource industry, and a stone’s throw from some of the most famous geological and palaeontological sites in the world.
Whereas the typical work of the historian is the social, cultural, and built histories of a community, a “Prehistorian-in-Residence” studies the underlying landscape, geology, climate, resources, fossils, flora and fauna that formed the literal groundwork for these histories. His work will strive to enrich Calgarians’ understanding of the natural forces that shaped our community through talks and local tours, culminating in a “Calgary’s prehiStory” exhibit of natural and cultural history objects at the Calgary Public Library.
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