“The Bone Archive,” Human-Animal Studies Summer Institute, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, July 2017.
“A Home for Antelopes,” Conference: “Zoo Studies and the New Humanities,” McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, December, 2016.
“Off Exhibit / Research Collection,” Symposium: “Animals in the Archive,” University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October, 2016.
“The (Re)Introduction of the Przewalski’s Horse,” Conference: The Ark and Beyond: The Evolution of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, November, 2015.
“Saving the Przewalski’s Horse.” Shannon Lecture. Carleton College. Ottawa, Ontario. November 2014.
“Questioning Reintroduction: A Case Study.” Arizona State University / Marine Biological Laboratory Workshop on the History of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Woods Hole, Massachusetts. May, 2014.
“Making the Przewalski’s Horse.” Animal Studies Workshop. University of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2014.
“History and Elephants” A. W. Mellon Workshop in Animal Studies. University of Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin. March, 2012.
“From Taxonomy to Conservation – Saving the Przewalski’s Horse.” Invited Speaker. Science and Zoos Workshop. University of Zurich. Zurich, Switzerland. June, 2011.
Respondent. “Animals as Objects and Signs.” University of Oslo. Oslo, Norway. June, 2011.
Respondent to Garry Marvin’s Professorial Innaugural Address. Roehampton University. London, England. May, 2011.
“Trophies and Remorse: Shooting with Mixed Feelings in the Nineteenth Century.” Michigan State University. Lansing, Michigan. March, 2010.
“Delia and the Elephant: Hunting and Taxidermy.” Northwestern University. Evanston, Illinois. February, 2010.
“Taxidermy and Taxonomy.” Conference: “Finding Animals: Toward a Comparative History and Theory of Animals.” Pennsylvania State University. April-May, 2009.
“In Search of Germans, Butterflies, and History in Papua New Guinea.” American Geographic Society Library. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. October, 2008.
“Articulating the Animal: Writing the Life and Mind of Primates.” “Writing Science at the Writing University. University of Iowa.” October, 2008.
“The Mirror in the Eye: Making Sense of Elephants.” University of Oslo. Oslo, Norway. December, 2007.
“Following the Spoor / Writing History.” Meeting I: British Animal Studies Network. London. May, 2007.
“Engaging the Critics.” Conference: “Zoo Experiences: The Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conservation.” Symposium at the Zoological Society of London. London. May, 2007.
“The Elephant in the Room: Animals and History.” Humanities Centre and History Department. University of Toronto. Toronto, Canada. March, 2007.
“Looking at Elephants.” Conference: “Envisioning Animals.” York University. Toronto, Canada. February, 2007.
“Faking Nature and the Origins of Conservation in Zoos.” Invited Speaker. Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo), New York. July, 2006.
“Animals, History, and Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions.” Symposium: “Animal Humanities.” University of Texas at Austin. April, 2006.
“Looking Back.” German Historical Institute Conference: “Animals in History.” Köln, Germany. May, 2005.
“Creating the Sublime: Animals and Landscape.” Conference: “Modern German Environmental History in European Perspective.” Harvard University’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. May, 2003.
“From Elephas horribilis to Elephas sentiens.” Conference: “Never Forgetting: Elephants and Ethics.” Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, Virginia. March, 2003.
“Thinking about Elephants.” Seminar. University of Wisconsin (Madison) History of Science Department. February, 2003.
“The Revolutions of Hagenbeck.” Conference: “250 Jahre Zoologischer Garten, Schönbrunn.” University of Vienna. Vienna, Austria. October, 2002.
“The Responsibilities of Zoos.” Panelist with David Hancocks, Joel Parrott, and Ron Kagan. Conference: “The War on Wildlife.” Performing Animal Welfare Society. Sacramento, California. May, 2002.
“Excelsior: The Birth of the Zoo.” University of Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa. April, 2002.
“Caring about Lota: An Enlightenment Legacy.” Humanities Research Centre. Australian National University. Canberra, Australia. July, 2001.
“Catching Animals and Animal Catchers.” Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies. Princeton University. Princeton, New Jersey. November, 1996.
“Electric Humanists: Virtual and Other Realities for Humanities Scholars at the End of the Century.” Center for Twentieth Century Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. November, 1995.
“The Hagenbeck Völkerausstellungen and the Exhibition of Colonial Power.” Minda de Gunzburg Center for European History. Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. April, 1994.
“Of Bars and Edens: The Commercial Origins of Paradise and the Modern Zoological Garden.” Department of the History of Science, History of Biology Workgroup. Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. March, 1994.