We see our world through a human lens, but even in the most urbanized areas, we have always lived with other species. This coexistence hasn't always been peaceful. Let's take a look at our unloved neighbors and discover how they affected our lives. How did rats impact international trade? Are bedbugs the real designers of our furniture? Where did urban pigeons come from? How much could you get for a hooded crow in Helsinki a century ago? Come for the story of conflicts that span centuries and cross borders - and stay for hearing out the villains' side.
Animal villains
Kari Fedyk
Room 207, – (1 h 45 min)
Content warnings: I'll be discussing rats and insects (such as bedbugs, flies, and cockroaches) as well as topics related to disease, infection, household waste, rot, bodily waste, animal feces, and animal eradication methods. While colonial and racialized violence isn't the main topic, it will be also brought up for context (for example, it's impossible to discuss intercontinental trade and rat-proofing ships without mentioning the colonial context in which these ships carried good extracted from colonized lands to the colonizers).