Skip to main content
Back to LUC.edu
School of Environmental Sustainability
Request Info Visit Apply Give

SES seminar 2026-01

SES Seminar Series

An Unnatural History of Lake Michigan

Presented by the School of Environmental Sustainability and the Department of History

  • Wednesday, January 21, 2026
  • 3:30 p.m.- 4 p.m.: Refreshments in the SES atrium
  • 4 p.m.-5 p.m.: Presentation in SES room 111
Theodore J. Karamanski, PhD

Guest speaker Theodore J. Karamanski, PhD, is an emeritus professor of public history at Loyola. He will discuss the ways Lake Michigan has shaped and been shaped by the people who have lived along its shores

Unlike the mountains, deserts, and oceans of North America, Lake Michigan is unique in that it has always interacted with human populations. This illustrated seminar explores the way the lake has shaped and been shaped by the people who have lived along its shores, from the indigenous Native Americans to the invasive Euro-Americans.

Guest speaker Theodore J. Karamanski, PhD, is an emeritus professor of public history at Loyola. He is the author of twelve books and numerous articles about indigenous, environmental, and Midwestern history. Karamanski has extensive experience as a consultant to the National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Cook Forest Preserve District. He is a founder and director of the Chicago Maritime Museum.

Unlike the mountains, deserts, and oceans of North America, Lake Michigan is unique in that it has always interacted with human populations. This illustrated seminar explores the way the lake has shaped and been shaped by the people who have lived along its shores, from the indigenous Native Americans to the invasive Euro-Americans.

Guest speaker Theodore J. Karamanski, PhD, is an emeritus professor of public history at Loyola. He is the author of twelve books and numerous articles about indigenous, environmental, and Midwestern history. Karamanski has extensive experience as a consultant to the National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Cook Forest Preserve District. He is a founder and director of the Chicago Maritime Museum.