Dustin Meier Research Profile

Dustin Meier

I am a Doctoral Lecturer in History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. I study the urban, environmental, and social history of the twentieth-century United States. My dissertation at Ohio State was entitled "Secure from the World's Contagions: Settlement House Summer Camping in the Twentieth Century." It traced the evolution of summer camping programs directed by urban reformers and professional social workers from the Progressive Era through the late twentieth century. At Ohio State, I got the chance to learn from several different environmental historians, which helped me to think creatively about analyzing the natural environment beyond traditional topics like wilderness spaces, labor issues, or agriculture. Currently, I am converting my dissertation into a book manuscript, hoping to intervene in scholarly discussions surrounding the history of race and the environment, as well as the different ways through which everyday people have historically encountered nature.  I am passionate about environmental justice in all forms, and I spent more than ten years working at a summer camp in Columbus, Ohio. 

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