The RAHS October Day Lecture will feature historian Nancy Cushing who will discuss some of the exploits of pigs in the Hunter Valley in the mid-nineteenth century and draw attention to their disruption of existing ecologies outside of the fences, to the detriment of native species and Indigenous peoples.
The colonial transformations of the Australian landscape were largely engineered by and for sheep and cattle but other introduced species were also part of this process. This lecture will focus on the pig, the most troublesome of these other animals. As self-directed omnivores, pigs were permitted a level of autonomy which drew public censure, governmental regulation and direct punishment.
About the speaker: Nancy Cushing is associate professor in History and Assistant Dean Research Training at the University of Newcastle. She combines her interests in environmental history, and more particularly human-animal studies, with studies of Newcastle’s past. Her books include Animals Count, coedited with Jodi Frawley (Routledge, 2018); Radical Newcastle, co edited with James Bennett (NewSouth, 20–15) and Snake-Bitten with Kevin Markwell (UNSW Press, 2010). Nancy has chaired the Australian and New Zealand Environmental History Network’s steering committee since 2016, is on the executive of the NSW History Council and is a member of the ADB NSW Working Party.
When: Wednesday, 3 October, 1.00 – 2.00pm
Where: History House, 133 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: Free
Contact: (02) 9247 8001 or history@rahs.org.au