Scholars interested in Plant Studies in an early-modern context are invited to consider plants and their roles in European cultures during this time period, from perspectives including (but not limited to): herbal treatises, healing plants, plant lore, botanical philosophy, plant taxonomy, plants in literature, architecture, visual art, or material culture, food studies, garden studies, ecocriticism, critical plant studies, colonial botany, early-modern forestry, herbaria, horticulture, hybridity, and more. For this seminar, we will pre-circulate 10-page papers in English and assign a reader to each in order to draw out rich connections and divergences between papers.

In the Age of the Anthropocene, it is often hard to look away from the human, yet it is vital that we turn our attention to the world around us. American nature essayist Annie Dillard wrote, “I suspect that the real moral thinkers end up, wherever they may start, in botany” (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek). Our seminar, “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Thinking with the Non-Human in Old Regime French Literature” for NeMLA 2019 in Washington, DC drew our attention to the non-human in a French context. Our seminar this year urges participants interested in Plant Studies in an early-modern context to consider plants and their roles in European cultures during this time period. Possible areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to:

  • Herbal treatises and manuscripts
  • Plant taxonomy and botanical philosophy
  • Medicinal properties of plants and plant lore
  • Herbs and plants used for childbearing and postpartum purposes
  • Plants in literature or visual art
  • Food Studies and plants
  • Garden Studies
  • Book Studies and plants
  • Critical plant studies and/or ecocriticism
  • Colonial botany
  • Cabinets of curiosity, herbaria and botanical gardens
  • Horticulture & wonder
  • Plant-human crossroads/hybridity
  • Early-modern forestry

We welcome papers in English since we hope to cultivate exchange across geographic borders and disciplines. This seminar will be conducted by reading pre-circulated papers of 10 pages or fewer; each participant will be assigned to closely read another participant’s article, introduce it, generate some thoughtful questions, and moderate discussion. In this way, we hope to delve into the world of plants and draw out rich connections and divergences between papers. Please submit an abstract of 250 words or fewer directly through the NeMLA website by 31 August 2019.