Rodrigue, Barry H.

Last name:  Rodrigue
Name:  Barry

Barry H. Rodrigue was born and raised on the eastern borderlands of Canada and the United States. He worked in Alaska for 20 years as an ethnographer, field biologist, journalist and commercial fisherman. While there, he founded the international journal, Archipelago, and collected songs, stories and music for the legendary Folkways Records (available through the Smithsonian Institution's Global Sound series). A Fulbright Scholar and graduate of The Evergreen State College (Washington) and L'Université Laval (Québec), Dr. Rodrigue works as a geographer and archeologist on projects pertaining to ethnicity and global networks – both as a scholar and as an active world citizen. His efforts focus on the local, regional and global linkages between issues as diverse as indigenous adaptation in the Appalachian Highlands and peace initiatives in the Caucasus. He has produced a variety of award-winning articles and books, individually and with others, such as L’Histoire régionale de Beauce-Etchemin-Amiante (2003), which was runner-up for the Canadian Historical Association's Sir John A. MacDonald Prize for most significant contribution to Canadian history. He is presently a professor at the University of Southern Maine (USA), where he founded The Collaborative for Global & Big History (for more information, visit their website at http://www.usm.maine.edu/bighistory). He also serves as International Coordinator of the International Big History Association (IBHA). Barry lives on the Coast of Maine with his wife Penelope, son Kenai, grandson Dimitri, and their two dogs – Yukon and Sakura. He spends his free time hiking in the forest, and enjoys music, reading, and writing fiction.

John Mears, David Christian, Tom Gehrels, Eric Chaisson, Fred Spier (left to right). Big History panel at the Fourth International Conference of The Historical Society, Boothbay Harbor, Maine (USA) June 2004. Photograph by Kim Dionne.

Rodrigue and his wife