Episode 11: Animals, History, and Environment
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Environmental history is primarily concerned with the relationship between humans and non-human nature, but the study of non-human nature holds a different set of problems and poses a different set of questions when considering non-human animals. As environmental historians continue to explore the place of animals in stories of the past, they increasingly cross into the rich literature and theory of historical animals studies.
This episode of the podcast looks at the place of animals in environmental history. We begin by speaking with Erica Fudge, the author of several books in historical animal studies, about her 2006 essay “The History of Animals” on the H-Animal Discussion Network. Then Sharon Kirsch joins us to discuss her new book What Species of Creatures: Animals Relations from the New World.

Guests:
Erica Fudge
Sharon Kirsch
Work Cited:
Sean Kheraj, Canadian History & Environment
Loo, Tina. States of Nature: Conserving Canada’s Wildlife in the Twentieth Century. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2006.
Sandlos, John. Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007.
Colpitts, George. Game in the Garden: A Human History of Wildlife in Western Canada to 1940. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2002.
Ritvo, Harriet. “Animal Planet.” Environmental History 9, no. 2 (2004): 204-220.
Fudge, Erica. “The History of Animals.” Ruminations, H-Animal discussion network, no. 1 (2006).
Music Credits:
“Septiembre” by BlondBlood – FG3 Free Guitars Project
“Mirando al Horizonte” Jaime Heras – FG3 Free Guitars Project
“Rumba Sudamericana” by Paco Santiago – FG3 Free Guitars Project
“Epiclatinarabrock” by Daniel Bautista – FG3 Free Guitars Project
Photo Credits:
“held still just long enough to focus” by jeffreyw
Citation:
Kheraj, Sean. “Episode 11: Animals, History, and Environment.” Nature’s Past: Canadian Environmental History Podcast. 22 November 2009.

Sean Kheraj

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