Universität Wien
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070125 UE Guided Reading History of Science - Science, non-human animals and colonialisms (2024W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 7 - Geschichte
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle
Fr 24.01. 11:30-13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 04.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 11.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 18.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 25.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 08.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 15.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 22.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 29.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 06.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 13.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 10.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 17.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9
  • Friday 31.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 2 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 9

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Non-human animals have served as metaphors and symbols of devaluation and dehumanization, as "scientific objects" in museum and zoological collections, as well as "enemies/pests" in colonial plantation economies. These circumstances make it clear that the histories of colonialism and their historical examination cannot be done without non-human animals. In this seminar, we will approach the interactions between various species in different colonial contexts through different approaches of environmental history, animal studies, the history of science, and decolonial studies, and discuss the following questions together:

How can the interconnections between scientific knowledge production, colonialism, non-human animals, and gender be conceptualized and analyzed?

To what extent can the histories of non-human animals serve as a starting point for historiographies that do not center humans as historical actors, thus opening up the possibility of re-describing colonial power (relations)?
Do insects have a history?

What role have non-human animals played in the context of territorial domination? What colonial profits have been derived from these creatures?

How have anthropocentric and heteronormative categories influenced the study of gender and behavior in zoology?

Course Objectives:
The course aims to equip participants with the skills to systematically and critically engage with academic literature in the fields of history of science, environmental history, and animal studies.

The objective is to identify and analyze the complex relationships between non-human animals, colonialism, and science.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to critically evaluate contemporary approaches in animal studies and the history of science and incorporate these approaches into their academic work.

Assessment and permitted materials

• Regelmäßige Abgabe kleinerer schriftlicher Ausarbeitungen
• Aktive Teilnahme an Diskussionen auf Basis der Lektüre
• Erstellung eines Forschungstagebuch
• Anwesenheit

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Rechtzeitige und vollständige Abgabe der schriftlichen Ausarbeitungen, Kenntnisse der wichtigsten Konzepte und Methoden der Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Animal Studies und der Dekolonialität, Fähigkeit zur eigenständigen Recherche, Maßstab ist die generelle wissenschaftliche Befähigung bzw. Leistung, die im Zuge der Teilaufgaben erbracht werden muss, Eigenständige Arbeitsweisen, Selbstständigkeit und Klarheit der Argumentation, kritischer Umgang mit Primärquellen, nuancierte Einschätzung und Kritik der zu lesenden Texte, Teilnahme an Diskussionen

Examination topics

Es sind keine Abschlussarbeiten, längere Präsentationen oder Abschlussprüfungen vorgesehen, da es sich um ein Guided Reading handelt.

Reading list

Brooksm R. (2021). Darwin's closet: The queer sides of the descent of man (1871). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 191(2), S.323–346.
Deb Roy, R. (2015). Nonhuman empires. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 35 (1), S.66-75.
Deb Roy, R. (2020). White Ants, empire and entomo-politics in South Asia. The Historical Journal, 63(2), S.411-436.
Lui-Chivizhe, L., & Philp, J. (2024). Ways of Knowing a Former Insect. Isis, 115(1), S.147–151.
Mitchell, T. (2002). Can the Mosquito Speak? In: Mitchell, T. (2002). Rule of Experts. University of California Press. S.19-53.
Mavhunga, C. C. (2018). The Mobile Workshop: The Tsetse Fly and African Knowledge Production. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts:London.
Onaga, L., & Huenniger, D. (2024). Introduction: Expanded Perspectives on Tiny Animals as Epistemic Agents. Isis, 115(1), S.126–130.
Onaga, L., & Reis-Castro, L. (2024). “Ambivalent Insects” as Tools and Targets. Isis, 115(1), S.152–156.
Saha, J. (2017). Colonizing elephants: animal agency, undead capital and imperial science in British Burma. BJHS Themes, 2, S.169–189.
Schiebinger, L. (1995). Am Busen der Natur: Erkenntnis und Geschlecht in den Anfängen der Wissenschaft. Klett-Cotta.
Minarchek, M. (2018). Plantations, Peddlers, and Nature Protection: The Transnational Origins of Indonesia's Orangutan Crisis, 1910–1930. Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 6(1), S.101–129.

Association in the course directory

Vertiefung zu: VO Wissenschaftsgeschichte

BA Geschichte (V2019): PM5 Vertiefung Wissenschaftsgeschichte (5 ECTS)
EC Geschichte (V2021) - M1b - Guided Reading (5 ECTS)

Last modified: Tu 05.11.2024 15:25