Nigel Rothfels
Presentations
Selected Interviews
Scholarly Presentations
- "Taxidermy and Taxonomy." Invited Speaker. Conference: "Finding Animals: Toward a Comparative History and Theory of Animals." Pennsylvania State University. April-May, 2009.
- "'The Monotonous Recurrence': Scenes of Hunting and Collecting in Mid-Nineteenth Century Ceylon." Conference: Annual Conference of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts. Charlotte, North Carolina. November 2008.
- "In Search of Germans, Butterflies, and History in Papua New Guinea." Invited Speaker. American Geographic Society Library. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. October 2008.
- "'The Mirror in the Eye: Making Sense of Elephants." Invited Speaker. University of Oslo. Oslo, Norway. December 2007.
- "Following the Spoor / Writing History." Invited Speaker. Meeting I: British Animal Studies Network. London. May, 2007.
- "Engaging the Critics." Invited Speaker. Conference: "Zoo Experiences: The Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conservation." Symposium at the Zoological Society of London. London. May, 2007.
- Keynote Address. Conference: "The Other Animals: Situating the Non-Human in Russian Culture and History." Virginia Tech and Bates College. Roanoke, Virginia. May, 2007.
- "Rogue: Understanding Violent Elephants in the Nineteenth Century." Conference: "Victorian Animal." CUNY Graduate Center. New York, New York. May, 2007.
- "The
Elephant in the Room: Animals and History." Invited Speaker. Humanities Centre and History Department. University of Toronto. Toronto, Canada. March, 2007.
- "Looking at Elephants." Invited Speaker. Conference: "Envisioning Animals." York University. Toronto, Canada. February, 2007.
- Keynote Address. Conference "Zoovolution." National Conference of the American Association of Zookeepers. Chicago. September, 2006.
- "Faking Nature and the Origins of Conservation in Zoos." Invited Speaker. Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo). New York, New York. July, 2006.
- "An Historian’s View of Animals." Annual Conference of the Circus Historical Society. Sarasota, Florida. May, 2006.
- "Animals, History, and Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions." Invited Speaker. Symposium: "Animal Humanities." University of Texas. Austin, Texas. April, 2006.
- "Looking Back." Invited Speaker: German Historical Institute Symposium:
"Animals in History." Cologne, Germany. May, 2005.
- "Touching." Conference: 20th Annual Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century
Studies Conference. Louisiana State University. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. April, 2005.
- "This Is a Trunk and This Is a Tale: Elephants, Science, and the Humanities."
Conference: Society for Literature and Science. Duke University. Raleigh, North Carolina. October, 2004.
- "Killing Elephants." Conference: North American
Victorian Studies Association. University of Indiana. Bloomington, IN. October,
2003.
- "Creating the Sublime: Animals and Landscape."
Invited Speaker. Conference: "Modern German Environmental History
in European Perspective." Harvard University's Minda de Gunzburg
Center for European Studies. Cambridge, MA. May, 2003.
- "From Elephas horribilis to Elephas
sentiens." Invited Speaker. Conference: "Never Forgetting:
Elephants and Ethics." Conservation and Research Center. Front
Royal, Virginia. March, 2003.
- "Sex and the Single Primate." Conference:
18th Annual Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies (INCS) Conference.
University of California-Santa Cruz. March, 2003.
- "Thinking about Elephants." Seminar. University
of Wisconsin History of Science Department. Madison, Wisconsin. February, 2003.
- "Science in the Tierpark: Alexander Sokolowsky."
History of Science Society Annual Conference. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
November, 2002.
- "The Revolutions of Hagenbeck." Invited Speaker. Conference:
"250 Jahre Zoologischer Garten, Schönbrunn." University of Vienna.
Vienna, Austria. October, 2002.
- "Lota: An Elephant's Life." Conference: "Animal
Arenas," ISAZ (International Society of Anthrozoology) Annual Conference.
University College, London. London, England. August, 2002.
- "The Responsibilities of Zoos." Invited Speaker. Panelist
with David Hancocks, Joel Parrott, and Ron Kagan. Conference: "The War
on Wildlife." Performing Animal Welfare Society. Sacramento, California.
May, 2002.
- "Excelsior: The Birth of the Zoo." Invited Speaker. University
of Iowa. Iowa City, IA. April, 2002.
- "Caring about Lota: An Enlightenment Legacy."
Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University. Canberra, Australia. July,2001.
- "Animal Immersion: Examining the Zoological Paradise."
Conference: "Representing Animals." Center for Twentieth Century Studies,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Milwaukee, WI. April, 2000.
- "Narrating Captivity." Conference: "Thresholds
of Identity in Human and Animal Relationships." University of California,
Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara, CA. March, 2000.
- "Technology and Genocide: What the Internet Teaches
about the Holocaust." Conference: "Remembrance and Responsibility:
Legacies of the Holocaust." University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Milwaukee, WI. May, 1997.
- "Catching Animals and Animal Catchers." Shelby
Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University. Princeton, New Jersey. November, 1996.
- "German Prehistory and German Identity: Social
Darwinism in Weinland's Rulaman" German Studies Association Annual
Conference. October, 1996.
- "The Cultural Body: Tattoos,
Piercings, Beauties, and Freaks." Chair and Commentator. American Studies Association
Annual Conference. October, 1996.
- "The Zoo." Commentator. Conference at the
Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University. Princeton, New Jersey. October, 1996.
- "Electric Humanists: Virtual and Other Realities
for Humanities Scholars at the End of the Century." Center for
Twentieth Century Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Milwaukee, WI. November, 1995.
- "Of Bars and Edens: The Commercial Origins of
Paradise and the Modern Zoological Garden." Department of the History
of Science, History of Biology Workgroup, Harvard University. Cambridge, MA. March,
1994.
- "The Hagenbeck Völkerausstellungen and the
Exhibition of Colonial Power." Minda de Gunzburg Center for European
History, Harvard University. Cambridge, MA. April, 1994.