Spring/printemps 2010
Articles

"Under moral obligation to stay:" Herbert R. Christie and the Origins of Forestry Education at the University of British Columbia, 1910-1933

Mark Kuhlberg
Laurentian University
Bio
Published June 29, 2010
Keywords
  • Forestry Education,
  • Post-Secondary Education in Canada,
  • Professional Education in Canada
How to Cite
Kuhlberg, Mark. 2010. “"Under Moral Obligation to stay:" Herbert R. Christie and the Origins of Forestry Education at the University of British Columbia, 1910-1933”. Historical Studies in Education / Revue d’histoire De l’éducation 22 (1). https://doi.org/10.32316/hse/rhe.v22i1.2333.

Abstract

Judging from the contrasting state of affairs at the forestry schools at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia, it is difficult to believe the situation that prevailed roughly eight decades ago. Today, UBC’s program is thriving whereas the forestry school at the University of Toronto is but a shadow of its former self. Exactly the opposite was true in the early twentieth century. Ironically, forestry education at UBC owes its existence to the profound commitment that Herbert Read Christie, a graduate of Toronto’s Faculty, showed to it in the years after the First World War. This article explores Christie’s role in building the UBC forestry school, and sheds light on the development of forestry as an academic discipline in Canada. -- En regard de l’évolution académique des écoles de foresterie de l’Université de Toronto et de l’Université de Colombie Britannique (UBC), il est difficile d’imaginer la situation qui existait il y a environ quatre-vingts ans. Alors que de nos jours, le programme de UBC s’avère florissant, les études en foresterie de l’Université de Toronto font piètre figure en comparaison de ce qu’elles étaient au début du XXe siècle où l’inverse prévalait. Il est ironique de souligner que le programme de foresterie développé à UBC, peu après la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale, est l’oeuvre de Herbert Read Christie, un diplômé de l’Université de Toronto en ce domaine. Cet article explore le rôle marquant joué par Christie dans l’implantation de cette école et de l’essor académique de cette discipline au Canada.