BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20276-f83a96e852df8a99aca62b45cb8fa313@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20261111T070333Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261105T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261105T143000 SUMMARY:Elise Milburn Workshop DESCRIPTION:\nJoin us as Elise Milburn shares a chapter\, “Plagues\, Pes ts\, and Place-Markers: Characterizing Ant Behavior in Sixteenth Century New Spain and the Caribbean\,” to be workshopped for an edited collecti on.\n\nIn the past twenty years\, insects and the tangible impact that t hese non-human actors had on the processes of conquest and colonization have become a point of interest in the literature of New Spain and the S panish Caribbean. Often\, insects are studied through the dichotomy of p est (locust\, mosquito) or producer (cochineal)\, creating a clear uncha rismatic/charismatic binary in the historiography. However\, ants\, whic h few scholars have seriously considered\, challenge this binary. This s tudy examines three separate accounts of ants written by both Indigenous and Spanish observers to examine how ants shaped the colonial landscape s of their observers\, and how their presence was understood by onlooker s. I consider the 1518 and 1519 ant plagues on the island of Hispaniola as described in the essay “Plague of Ants” by Bartolomé de las Casas\, t he descriptions of Mesoamerican ant populations in the Relación de Tanci taro (1580)\, and the appearance of ants in the Indigenous-authored Badi anus Manuscript (1552).\n\nMilburn shows that the former two accounts\, which were written by Spanish authors\, depict the ant population as pla gues and pests\, focusing on the negative damage that these ant populati ons had on their agricultural projects rather than the impact that impor ting non-native Spanish plants had on the local ecosystems. She argues t hat\, in these accounts\, Spanish authors used ants to reconcile their i nability to completely conquer the natural environment of the New World. In contrast\, the Badianus Manuscript — a medicinal herbal that details herbal recipes to treat certain ailments\, accompanied by visual depict ions of many of the plants — depicts ants both as place-markers to find medicinal herbs and as live medical components. Its Mexica authors under stood the relationship between plants and insects\, which helped them to find otherwise hard-to-locate plants. Thus\, in sixteenth-century New S pain\, ants’ depiction as plagues\, pests\, place-markers\, and/or medic ines depended on the cultural background of the observer. While historia ns often reduce ants to pests\, Indigenous authors in sixteenth-century New Spain broaden our understanding of ants as meaningful non-human acto rs.\n\nMilburn is the 2026 Richards Center research assistant and a Ph.D . student in the Department of History.\n\nFor more details: https://eve nts.la.psu.edu/event/elise-milburn-workshop/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Join us as Elis e Milburn shares a chapter, “Plagues, Pests, and Place-Markers: Characte rizing Ant Behavior in Sixteenth Century New Spain and the Caribbean,” t o be workshopped for an edited collection.

In the past twenty year s, insects and the tangible impact that these non-human actors had on th e processes of conquest and colonization have become a point of interest in the literature of New Spain and the Spanish Caribbean. Often, insect s are studied through the dichotomy of pest (locust, mosquito) or produc er (cochineal), creating a clear uncharismatic/charismatic binary in the historiography. However, ants, which few scholars have seriously consid ered, challenge this binary. This study examines three separate accounts of ants written by both Indigenous and Spanish observers to examine how ants shaped the colonial landscapes of their observers, and how their p resence was understood by onlookers. I consider the 1518 and 1519 ant pl agues on the island of Hispaniola as described in the essay “Plague of A nts” by Bartolomé de las Casas, the descriptions of Mesoamerican ant pop ulations in the Relación de Tancitaro (1580), and the appearance of ants in the Indigenous-authored Badianus Manuscript (1552).

Milburn sh ows that the former two accounts, which were written by Spanish authors, depict the ant population as plagues and pests, focusing on the negativ e damage that these ant populations had on their agricultural projects r ather than the impact that importing non-native Spanish plants had on th e local ecosystems. She argues that, in these accounts, Spanish authors used ants to reconcile their inability to completely conquer the natural environment of the New World. In contrast, the Badianus Manuscript — a medicinal herbal that details herbal recipes to treat certain ailments, accompanied by visual depictions of many of the plants — depicts ants bo th as place-markers to find medicinal herbs and as live medical componen ts. Its Mexica authors understood the relationship between plants and in sects, which helped them to find otherwise hard-to-locate plants. Thus, in sixteenth-century New Spain, ants’ depiction as plagues, pests, place -markers, and/or medicines depended on the cultural background of the ob server. While historians often reduce ants to pests, Indigenous authors in sixteenth-century New Spain broaden our understanding of ants as mean ingful non-human actors.

Milburn is the 2026 Richards Center resea rch assistant and a Ph.D. student in the Department of History.

Fo r more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/elise-milburn-workshop/

URL:https://richardscenter.la.psu.edu/ LOCATION:113 Pond Lab END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR