Contribution short abstract:

As a PhD scholar deeply engaged in the history of human-animal relationships. This workshop presents a unique opportunity to explore my research interests with the evolving discourse surrounding archives, knowledge production, and the blurred boundaries between humans and non-humans.

Contribution long abstract:

After completing the Master's degree, I gained the confidence to contribute to the academic domain. I joined the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, as an archival research assistant in 2022. I have been working on a project titled "Animal Care, Science and Imperialism: Colonial Project of Veterinary Medicine in British South India". My responsibilities included consulting primary sources of the colonial period from the Tamil Nadu State Archives, such as government orders from the 1870s to 1947, newspaper cuttings, and letters. Through this experience, I gained expertise in archival research. As a PhD student deeply engaged in the history of human-animal relationships, particularly in the context of zoonotic diseases. This workshop presents a unique opportunity to explore the intersections of my research interests with the evolving discourse surrounding archives, knowledge production, and the blurred boundaries between the human and non-human worlds.

Archives have traditionally been viewed as repositories of historical records, but scholars across various disciplines have started to challenge this conventional understanding. The archival records range from Government Records like revenue, public, public health, and education department reports, correspondences and proceedings related to the veterinary departments are valuable. Archives are not just passive repositories but active knowledge production and engagement sites. This shift in perspective has opened up opportunities to explore how archives can serve as spaces for reimagining human-animal relationships and understanding zoonotic diseases beyond traditional frameworks.

Contribution short abstract:

In my contribution, I aim to openly discuss the emotional aspects of our research by sharing my personal experiences in the intimate process of reading about environmental degradation. It is now more crucial than ever to foster a compassionate and supportive academic community.

Contribution long abstract:

In environmental and climate change history research, it's essential to acknowledge that the significance of our findings often carries emotional burdens, as we often uncover stories of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. While engaging with our sources, researchers in this field often experience a deep sense of eco-anxiety and sadness when confronted with the harsh realities of environmental destruction and the climate crisis. In my contribution to this workshop, I would like to share my personal experience in the intimate process of reading. By sharing not only my negative emotions such as anxiety and sorrow, but also my feelings of hope, I seek to openly discuss the emotional aspects of our research. In a larger sense, I hope that initiatives such as this workshop will be able to foster a more empathetic and supportive academic community that recognizes the toll environmental and climate history can take on our well-being, while also harnessing the power of our emotions to inspire positive action.

Contribution long abstract:

I'm a PhD student in Science and Technology Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. My research studies the becoming of milk in contemporary China, and I will investigate different actors in rendering the milk assemblage for Chinese consumers. I pay close attention to the human and more-than-human entanglements in my research. I draw inspiration not only from academic literature, such as books on environmental humanities, multi-species ethnography, but also from diverse sources like fictions, songs, visual imagery, natural landscapes, and the interactions with non-human entities in our daily lives. I have been exploring alternative ways of communicating research beyond traditional academic papers, which is why I find this form of interactive installation intriguing. I would like to engage and interact with fellow participants, exchanging insights and experiences regarding our reading habits. I will participate either online or on-site depending on my location then.

Contribution short abstract:

Wait and Hear is a group of artists and an anthropologist that has worked during a two-week "Field Notes" research period in the North of Finland. We bring together our methodologies and methods of deep listening and attuning to Anything Organism(s).

Contribution long abstract:

The Wait and Hear project explored ways of listening and attuning during a two-week "Field Notes" research period in the North of Finland. It extends an invitation to encounter, experience, and comment on Kilpisjärvi – the region, the lake, the settlement, the living – which the group refers to as Organisms. Through this exploration, a manifold of consequences and influences of human intervention, their diffusion, and their interrelations becomes starkly noticeable.

As the group spends time in the field and critically analyzes their surroundings, themselves, and their interrelation with the various forms in which Kilpisjärvi presents itself, they will try to resist the urge to engage immediately for as long as possible. Instead, they will gather on fells to listen to the wind, stones, and water.

The group participants include social anthropologist Alicja Staniszewska, artist-researcher Bartaku, social designer, researcher, and writer Jan Christian Schulz, artist Joshua Le Gallienne, and multidisciplinary artist Mari Mäkiö. The group is hosted by Till Boverman.

Contribution long abstract:

I am interested in your project because of the joy I experience when reading. I want to know how others read and meditate on reading as a process.

I am currently turning my dissertation into a book. I write on the intersection of imperial legislation and riparian landscape in eighteenth and nineteenth century Bengal. Such research entails paging through thousands of handwritten letters produced by the writers of the East India Company (EIC) in their spidery copperplate.

I initially found this reading tedious, particularly because when I read fiction, I see the scene unfolding in my mind’s eye and have a tendency to read faster when the action of the plot necessitates it. When reading my primary sources it took time—over a year in fact—to create a visual life-world inhabited by the writers of these EIC letters and their imperial subjects.

On my most recent trip to West Bengal I visited rice paddies and riverbanks not to gather any particular data but to imbibe a sense of the place that now enriches what I see when I read.

Contribution long abstract:

I judge a purse based on how many books it can carry and a coat pocket on if it is large enough to slip a paperback into, which is to say that I am never without something to read. But because reading is also part of my job as a cultural historian and writer, I am conscious of how I read and why, which is what sparks my interest in participating in this workshop. I am eager to converse about reading as a practice and to reflect on how my habits inform my own research and writing.

Contribution short abstract:

As an environmental historian, I must do more than read and write papers. I need to read landscapes and listen to soundscapes by training and sharpening my senses.

Contribution long abstract:

As an environmental historian, I must do more than read and write papers. I need to read landscapes and listen to soundscapes. Both need silence and imagination, as well as a reservoir of information coming from different sources, including written and oral sources. For instance, talking to a local person, reading a lot about the history of the place, or identifying unusual features in the vegetation patterns help train the eyes for landscape reading. As for listening to soundscapes, the senses must sharpen to tell apart the layers of sounds at a particular moment. I want to participate in this activity to learn about other reading and listening practices, feelings, and techniques.

Contribution long abstract:

I think my biggest draw to this topic is that before I started my PhD on environmental history, I was a writing instructor at colleges and universities. I always told my students that reading, writing, listening, and speaking are all the same activity: thinking. Now that I am much more focused on my own reading, writing, listening, and speaking as I finish my dissertation, I have new reflections on what these activities look and feel like, especially when studying nature. For my research, I have needed to find ways to listen to trees, learn to read German to do research, and find ways to keep up with others' work while I write my own. Also, I just think this is a wonderful topic. This year I am based in Munich, so I think we are in the same time zone!