Please mark your calendars for The Animal Turn Research Cluster's first live event of the semester.
TALK AND DISCUSSION Sponsored by the Animal Turn Research Cluster
"Hidden Among Us: Urban Wildlife and Nonfiction Writing"
Professor Babette Tischleder (University of Goettingen, Germany)
Thursday, September 19
4pm —Lincoln Hall, Room 1028
Hidden Among Us: Urban WildLife and Nonfiction Writing
Babette Tischleder, University of Göttingen Professor of North American Studies
Cities are commonly seen as places built for and inhabited by people. Hence it still comes as a surprise when a fox, a coyote, or a raccoon crosses our path in the middle of Berlin, Urbana, or Chicago. In fact, many city creatures are considered a nuisance, pests, or a health risk, including rats, squirrels, and pigeons. But there is also a growing fascination with wild animals that live in our midst. This talk is concerned with the more-than-human city as it is reflected in recent nonfiction literature, and it considers storytelling as a relevant mode in which cities are reimagined as ecosystems where human and nonhuman lives intersect. As a hybrid genre that combines science writing, everyday observation, and autobiographical elements, these texts not only imagine the city as a multispecies habitat but take their cues from unexpected encounters with our nonhuman neighbors, thus shedding light on scenes of city life and forms of coexistence that are often overlooked.
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