Skip to Content

Search: {{$root.lsaSearchQuery.q}}, Page {{$root.page}}

EIHS Lecture: The Hoof of Destiny

Jamie Kreiner, University of Georgia
Thursday, April 18, 2019
4:00-6:00 PM
1014 Tisch Hall Map
Does it make sense to think of pigs as having agency? Farmers, lawmakers, and philosophers in the early medieval West thought so. Pigs were smart enough, and delinquent enough, to make the process of domestication a two-way street. This talk explores the different ways that pigs made a dent in early medieval history, while also thinking about what their human collaborators thought was important (or not) when it came to thinking and acting and making a difference.

Jamie Kreiner is an associate professor of history at the University of Georgia. She is a historian of the early Middle Ages whose research focuses on the mechanics of culture, including how medieval communities themselves thought that knowledges and commitments were communicated, adopted, and affected by other forms of power. She's especially interested in the quieter forces that shape ethical systems—forces that were not always purposeful, individual, or human—and it's a thread that runs through her research on narrative, social forms of cognition, the interplay between science and religion, and animals. She explores the status of pigs as subjects and objects in her new book, Legions of Pigs, which will appear in Fall 2020 with Yale University Press. Her research has been supported by several grants and fellowships, including most recently a Mellon Fellowship for Assistant Professors at the Institute for Advanced Study; and her publications have been awarded prizes from the Medieval Academy of America, the Society for French Historical Studies, and the Agricultural History Society.

Free and open to the public.

This event is part of the Thursday Series of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.
Building: Tisch Hall
Event Type: Lecture / Discussion
Tags: History
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, Department of History

The Thursday Series is the core of the institute's scholarly program, hosting distinguished guests who examine methodological, analytical, and theoretical issues in the field of history. 

The Friday Series consists mostly of panel-style workshops highlighting U-M graduate students. On occasion, events may include lectures, seminars, or other programs presented by visiting scholars.

The insitute also hosts other historical programming, including lectures, film screenings, author appearances, and similar events aimed at a broader public audience.