Hunting, Imperialism, and the Wilderness

This module explores the ways humans hunted, poached, and preserved wildlife during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly in imperial contexts. It looks at the global circulation of ideas about empire, hunting, wildlife, and their practices by focusing on case-studies in Britain, India, eastern Africa, and the United States. Through four to six class meetings, the module investigates how the ruling class defined appropriate methods and practices of hunting, and then used those definitions to deny colonial subjects and the rural poor access to wildlife and wild spaces. It demonstrates how these deliberately cleared spaces contributed to our contemporary understandings of conservation and national parks.

Original version authored by Erica Mukherjee

Readings and Primary Sources

Module Lesson Plan:

• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-0.0-Module lesson plan
• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-0.1-Schedule at a glance
• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-0.2-About this module for students

Lesson 1:

• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-1.1-Reading 1-Hunting in the wilderness

Lesson 2:

• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-2.1-Reading 2-Hunting and masculinity in Eastern Africa
• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-2.2-Primary Source-Kipling
• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-2.3-Primary Source-Patterson

Lesson 3:

• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-3.1-Reading 3-Clearing the way for national parks in the United States
• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-3.2a-Primary Source-Catlin letters and notes
• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-3.2b-Primary Source-Catlin selected paintings

Lesson 4:

• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-4.1-Reading 4-The human experience of wildlife in India
• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-4.2-Primary Source-Corbett

Conclusion:

• Hunting-Wilderness-and-Imperialism-5.1-Reading 5-Conclusion