I mistakenly commented on people’s presentations on their previous posts so I am now compiling them here in my final blog post! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about everyone’s project progression and wish everyone the best of luck.
George: Hi! I just watched your conference presentation and I am glad to see I am not the only one who decided to shift their leading question for the long essay. I particularly liked how you went over how you responded and adapted to your initial project proposal feedback – it’s quite helpful to substantively see how your project has evolved not only thematically but also methodologically. I’m glad you’re engaging with this subject as it is a newer field of history and its research utilizes methods across disciplines. I thoroughly enjoyed watching your conference presentation as I have a little bit of background environmental history and historiography (and I am a big fan of David Attenborough). I wrote a historiographical essay in HI2001 on William Beinart and Peter Coates’s Environment and History: The taming of nature in the USA and South Africa (1995) – while it has been a minute since I last picked it up I remember them discuss at length the role media and news played in disseminating environmental movements. They also do a good job of incorporating anthropological sources and first hand accounts into their cross-analysis. I’m not sure how much this will pertain to your research but if you find yourself stumped methodologically at any point, I think this book might be useful to draw inspiration from as they engage with similar methods you mention. I have encountered similar issues with a focus on the post-Soviet space as most anything deemed as progressive literature within this region is difficult to unearth. I have noticed the USSR had a tendency to destroy/conceal historical evidence and accounts that did not align with their views or political agenda… I wish I could say differently for the current Russian state but I have still found this to be an issue in interacting with modern Russian sources. I also think a non-human actor as your subject is a very interesting and refreshing way to go about this topic. Best of luck as you continue your research!
Laura: Hi! I really like how you are approaching a topic with lots of preexisting historiographical debates and applying a comparative methodology to build off of and establish a new perspective on the matter. I have been hesitant to commit to a comparative methodology for my own project but I have found your findings so far in your final conference presentation to be quite comforting. I had previously not considered anti-semitism out of a German context, and expect that a comparison between Vichy France or Fascist Italy will yield fruitful analysis and results. While I do not have much background on Vichy France or Fascist Italy, I would recommend looking back on Marc Bloch along with Haupt and Kocka if you find yourself needing more research on the comparative methodology. I am currently reading them and think that they will definitely be helpful to refer back to for my personal project. I really like the idea of comparison as a means of understanding transnational phenomenon which I believe you mentioned in the second slide. I think you have a very new and fresh approach to this topic and am excited for your project to develop further. Best of luck!