The Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph invites you to attend the latest International Scots Lecture on Monday, March 30, 2026 at 3 p.m. (EDT) on Zoom. Dr. Daniel Arbino (University of Miami Libraries) will present "The desolation of all desolations:" Scottish Shepherds and Imperial Unease in Patagonia. The event is free and open to all.
Details and registration are available on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/international-scots-lecture-tickets-1984305554329?aff=oddtdtcreator
About the Talk...
This talk explores the experiences of Scottish shepherds in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands in the late nineteenth century, focusing on the letters of George Anderson and the journals of William Blain. Situating their lives within the broader context of British economic dominance in Argentina and the pastoral expansion of Patagonia, the paper examines the region as a liminal space, a "frontier" shaped by imperial ambition, Indigenous loss, and cultural uncertainty. Rather than reading these men solely as agents of empire, Arbino analyzes their writings for moments of anxiety about identity, belonging, and "going native." Anderson's reflections on isolation, food, marriage, and domestic life reveal tensions between Scottish respectability and frontier realities, while Blain's accounts of Indigenous communities expose projections of fear, instability, and asymmetrical power relations. Indeed, it is Britain's informal imperial approach to Patagonia that exacerbates these very anxieties, ultimately marking Scottish shepherds as doubly foreign. By attending to these nuanced expressions of unease, the presentation argues that Patagonia functioned not only as a site of economic opportunity, but also as a space where Scottish settlers' sense of self was both constructed and unsettled at the edge of empire.
Daniel Arbino
About the Speaker...
As Chair and Curator of the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Early Americas, Exploration and Navigation, Daniel Arbino is responsible for collection development, instruction, public outreach, community engagement, and fundraising. Prior to joining the University of Miami Libraries, he served as the Head of Collection Development for the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin. He has taught at the university level for many institutions; his most recent course is a graduate and undergraduate course on the history of print culture in the Americas for the University of Miami's Department of History. Prior teaching engagements include the University of Texas at Austin's iSchool, Tulane University's Department of English, and Centre College's Spanish Department.
With forty academic publications to his name, Dr. Arbino demonstrates a commitment to scholarship pertaining to the Caribbean and Latin America. His research interests are varied, having spanned topics from academic librarianship to Puerto Rican theatre, from Afro-Uruguayan poetry to Dutch Caribbean novels. He has also published in leading journals in his field, such as Chiricú, Aztlá, The Latin American Literary Review, and Sargasso. His academic interest in post-colonial cultural production in the Americas is articulated through his work as a curator, librarian, educator, and scholar. His recent programs, held at the Kislak Center at the University of Miami, brought in top scholars to discuss confraternities in early colonial Mexico and the role of Black labour in the early Americas.
Dr. Arbino received his Ph.D. in Latin American literatures and cultures from the University of Minnesota. He earned his Master of Arts in Hispanic literature and his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico. He obtained his Master of Arts in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Arizona.
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For more information on the Scottish Studies program at the University of Guelph, including faculty and student contacts and research interests, collections material, web-based resources, graduate and undergraduate programs, courses and upcoming conferences, visit http://www.uoguelph.ca/scottish or contact the Scottish Studies Office:
Scottish Studies Office
MacKinnon Building, Room MCKN 1008
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
N1G 2W1
Tel: 519-824-4120 ext 53209
Email: scottish@uoguelph.ca
