Most histories are histories of human actors. No matter if those actors were dominant, marginalized, or not even recognized as fully human at the time, historians have mainly focused on highlighting the role of humans in making their own histories under radically distinct circumstances. Following the lead of scholars from the fields of Science and Technology studies (STS), environmental history, anthropology, digital studies, material history, archaeology, book history, and literary and cultural studies, this EIHS roundtable discussion investigates the possibilities and limitations of engagements with the past that decenter humans as the driving force and focal point of history. Examining a wide array of more-than-human actors, including sturgeon fish in the Amur River, the Kaho’olawe island, and the Seosan Land Reclamation Juvenile Camp in South Korea, this panel challenges conventional archival and scholarly practices of historians by subverting anthropocentric and empiricist notions of voice, agency, and linear time.

Panelists:

• Christopher DeCou (PhD Student, History, University of Michigan)
• Sunhong Kim (PhD Student, Musicology, University of Michigan)
• Lopaka O'Connor (PhD Student, History, University of Michigan)
• Perrin Selcer, moderator (Associate Professor, History and Program in the Environment, University of Michigan)

This event presented by the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible in part by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.