Animal Actions, Human Reactions: Writing a Revolutionary Caribbean and Beyond

Marshall University will present “Animal Actions, Human Reactions: Writing a Revolutionary Caribbean and Beyond,” Friday, April 15, at 4 p.m. in Harris Hall 134. The free lecture will be presented by Dr. Charlton Yingling, an assistant professor of history at the University of Louisville.

Yingling specializes in Latin American, Caribbean, and Atlantic history. His publications have examined race, revolutions, religiosity, and animals’ influences upon human societies across the America from the sixteenth through the twentieth century.

Dr. Cicero Fain, Marshall’s visiting diversity scholar, says as an alum of Marshall, Yingling is a great representation of the university.

“Dr. Yingling makes Marshall proud,” Fain said. “He is an accomplished historian whose research is innovative and provocative.”

Yingling’s lecture stems from a coauthored article, “Slaves Hounds and Abolition in the Americas,” which focuses on the role of canines in enforcing racial policies.

His first book, “Siblings of Soil: Dominicans and Haitians in the Age of Revolutions” is built from extensive research in over two dozen archives in Spain, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Vatican, the United Kingdom and various other locations. The book is due out later this year from the University of Texas Press in Austin.

Dr. Chris White is a professor in Marshall’s Department of History.

“Dr. Yingling’s research highlights the racialized uses of  ‘man’s best friend’ and the rise of modern capitalism,” White said.

Yingling has a B.A. in history from Marshall in 2006, an M.A. in Latin American studies from Vanderbilt University in 2009 and a Ph.D. in history from the University of South Carolina in 2016.

The lecture is sponsored by Marshall’s College of Liberal Arts, Department of History and John Deaver Drinko Academy. The event is free and open to the public.