Project Description

Our research project examines the multi-faceted relationship between humans and ticks from the perspective of environmental history and environmental humanities. We aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of discussions about ticks in Finnish society from the late nineteenth century up to the present. Our goal is to increase the knowledge about human relations, not only to ticks but also insects in general. By so doing, we also hope to refine methods and concepts for studying invertebrate animals; a class of animals previously ignored in humanistic research.

We explore the formation and circulation of scientific as well as local knowledge regarding ticks. This analysis increases our understanding of how ticks have influenced human relation to and ways of enjoying nature. Furthermore, by examining ticks as part of the discourse about larger environmental changes, we aim at participating in the humanistic research on the Anthropocene. In the end, we hope to provide intellectual groundings also for the wider public to understand how the ongoing environmental crisis affects ecological networks and changes in the human relation to nature.

The project is funded by the Academy of Finland 2020-2024.