Umass Amherst History Department

Feinberg Series lecture on the disappearing snails of Hawaii by Thom van Dooren. Thom van Dooren is a field philosopher, storyteller and Associate Professor, University of Sydney and the University of Oslo. Moderated by Malcolm Sen with an introduction by Brian Ogilvie. The Hawaiian Islands were once home to one of the most diverse assemblages of terrestrial snails found anywhere on earth. Today, however, the majority of these species are extinct and most of those that remain are headed swiftly in the same direction. This lecture explores this larger context of loss, asking what it means and why it matters that so much of Hawai’i’s rich snail diversity is disappearing. It does so, however, through a focus on one very particular question: how did a global centre of terrestrial snail diversity end up out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Snails, after all, are not commonly known for their propensity to undertake long journeys—not by land, and certainly not by sea. So, how did they all get to this most remot