Whales and Humans:
Past Entanglements and Current Relations
International Conference at the University of Iceland, June 22 – 23, 2026
Scholarship on the relationship between humans and whales around the globe continues to be exciting and innovative. Yet, since the Sandefjord Whaling Museum last hosted a conference on the topic in 2013, there have been few opportunities for this community of scholars to come together. Therefore, we – a consortium of scholars from Iceland, Japan, and the United States – are soliciting papers for a conference on the history and present of humans and whales, to take place at the University of Iceland, in Reykjavik, from June 22 – 23, 2026.
Program:
Whales and Humans Program (pdf)
Keynote:
A Transdisciplinary Study of Whale Use in Iceland from Landnám through Late Middle Ages.
Lísabet Guðmundsdóttir, Postdoctoral Fellow at Arkeologisk Museum Stavanger
Vicki Szabo, Professor at Western Carolina University
Conference committee & institutional sponsors:
- Kristín Ingvarsdóttir, main organizer, University of Iceland
- Ryan Tucker Jones, University of Oregon
- Akamine Jun, ArCS III (Arctic Challenge for Sustainability), Hitotsubashi University
- Lissa Wadewitz, University of Oregon
For inquiries, pleace contact whales@hi.is
Venue
University of Iceland, Veröld – House of Vigdís (Faculty of Languages and Cultures).
Whale Congress in Húsavík
The conference is held in collaboration with the Whale Museum in Húsavík, and selected scholars from the conference at the University of Iceland will also give lectures at the annual Whale Congress in Húsavík on June 25. See further information here.
