Call for Participants: New Scholars December Meeting

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Our second NiCHE New Scholars meeting will focus on the theme of animals in environmental history.

The study of animals in environmental history has continued to grow in the past several years. The theme of human-animal relationships, the ways in which non-human animals shape the rest of the natural world, and studies of animal domestication and husbandry continue to contribute to our understandings of environmental history.

Some questions we will consider include, but are not limited to:

  • How central have the categories and conceptions of “animal” been in environmental history? Do you agree that we are experiencing a paradigm shift?
  • In what ways have animals shaped trans-boundary environmental history?
  • What influences the ways in which we think about animals as “good” or “bad” (or, pests, prey, and pets)? What repercussions has this had (or continue to have) on human-animal relationships and conservation efforts?
  • How can we reconcile the histories of animals and the anthropocene?

I encourage you to read this short article from 2016 by Dan Vandersommers, a former Wilson postdoc here at McMaster, before the meeting. Do you have any other questions you would like to include in our discussion? If you do, please let me know!

You can fill out the Doodle Poll here – the meeting will take place sometime in early December.

I look forward to hearing from you and for another great New Scholars meeting!

Email: greenh1@mcmaster.ca

Twitter: @heathergreen21

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Heather Green

Heather Green is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Saint Mary's University. She is interested in the intersections of environmental and Indigenous histories, histories of Indigenous and Settler Relations, and mining history, particularly in the Canadian North. You can connect with her on twitter @heathergreen21.

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