This course introduces students to the history of natural history--or how thinkers (often called "naturalists") made sense of the world around them. Course readings, lectures, and activities will explore changing perspectives on nonhuman nature across time, from medieval bestiaries to early modern cabinets of curiosities, from colonial botany to more recent legends of Yetis, Bigfoots, and other fantastical creatures of cryptozoology.
This course introduces students to the history of natural history--or how thinkers (often called "naturalists") made sense of the world around them. Course readings, lectures, and activities will explore changing perspectives on nonhuman nature across time, from medieval bestiaries to early modern cabinets of curiosities, from colonial botany to more recent legends of Yetis, Bigfoots, and other fantastical creatures of cryptozoology.
