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Academic Seminars

The Pen and the Plow: The Agricultural Origins of Economic Entomology

James McWilliams

Tuesday, April 1, 2008, at 4:30 p.m.
Elmarion Room, Goddard-Daniels House
190 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts

PRÉCIS: This paper explores the intricacies of insect control in early America. It argues that pragmatic and generally effective systems of pest management emerged due to the unique discursive relationship that developed between farmers and applied (or "economic") entomologists between 1820 and 1860. The goal these disparate groups had to achieve was to blend a vernacular understanding of insect behavior as it developed form the ground up with more formalized life-cycle studies that came from the top down. Because first-generation economic entomologists avoided the impulse to distance themselves from the grit of agricultural knowledge, and because farmers brought to the table an enormous amount of informal entomological expertise, these groups reached a modified consensus on insect control tactics that marked a temporary golden age of insect control, one that would fall prey to the lure of chemical insecticides by the 1870s.

Refreshments will be provided after the paper, which will be followed by a dutch-treat dinner in Worcester. If you plan to attend, please notify Ann-Cathrine Rapp at AAS no later than Friday, March 28. You can either fax the form below to 508-754-9069, or email her at arapp@mwa.org or go to the calendar and electronic registration form.