The Institute for Critical Animal Studies is pleased to announce our 2012 Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies Awards of the Year. Awards will be bestowed on March 3, 2012 during the conference at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY (March 2-4). We thank the many nominees for submitting their work. It was an honor to consider the wonderful nominations from around the world! Although the final decisions were difficult, we truly feel that the following award recipients have done superb work to help animals and end oppression. We are proud to recognize their contributions to the field of Critical Animal Studies.

Critical Animal Studies Grassroots Project of the Year
“Food Empowerment Project”: http://www.foodispower.org/

Critical Animal Studies Media of the Year
“Conflict Gypsy”: http://www.conflictgypsy.com/

Critical Animal Studies Faculty Paper/Project of the Year
Dr. Lori Gruen, “The first 100”: http://first100chimps.wesleyan.edu/

Critical Animal Studies Undergraduate Paper/Project/Thesis of the Year
Lara Drew: “Freirean Pedagogy and Activism: Radical Adult Education in the Animal Liberation Movement

Critical Animal Studies Graduate Paper/Project/Dissertation of the Year
James Stanescu: “The Abattoir of Humanity: Philosophy in the Age of the Factory Farm”

Critical Animal Studies Book of the Year
Jason Hribal: Fear of the Animal Planet: The Hidden History of Animal Resistance

Critical Animal Studies Tyke Scholar of the Year
Tereza Vandrovcova

Critical Animal Studies Britches Scholar of the Year
Jessica Groling

Critical Animal Studies Hilda Scholar of the Year
Adam Weitzenfeld

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THINKING ABOUT ANIMALS CONFERENCE
March 31 and April 1, 2010
10th Annual N. American Conference for Critical Animal Studies

REGISTRATION FORM
ACCOMMODATIONS
NIAGARA VEGAN GUIDE
Your Vegan Survival Guide for Brock University and the Niagara Region.
SEE US ON FACEBOOK
CONFERENCE EVENT INVITATION
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT CRITICAL ANIMAL STUDIES AT BROCK

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The importance of starting a student group at your college cannot be emphasized enough.

Starting a student group is more than a symbolic gesture, it is a real step towards building an animal rights community and accomplishing goals on campus.

How to Start a Group:

The first thing you should do if there is not a registered animal rights student group on your campus is so start one yourself. Even if you don’t think yourself the “leader” type, that’s OK. The purpose of registering the group is draw others to you so that you can build a community. You need not lead the community, you are merely stating that you would like to be part of one, and making a starting point.

Requirements:

Registering student groups is typically organized through a department of student services, which should be accessible from your school’s homepage. Registration requirements vary from school to school, but in most cases you will only need to fill out a few forms. In some cases you’ll need to submit a constitution stating your group’s mission statement (“Animals are not ours to eat, wear, etc.”). For help writing a constitution, or any other college activism concerns, feel free to email me at JTsmiley14@gmail.com.

By registering an animal rights group on campus, anyone looking for other vegetarians and activists will naturally look up the list of student organizations. Even if you have a robust group of animal activists at your college, many potential new members will not know about it unless the group is listed in the school directory.

Other ways to grow the AR community

In addition to becoming a registered student organization (RSO) you will want to use all other means available to advertise the existence of your group to attract the most members. There are many ways to do this, but my two favorite activities are flyering and letters to the school newspaper.

Creating a flyer is a relatively straightforward process. Print out as many flyers as you can; you may be able to get a discount on printing costs through your school library. Post them on campus message boards, or in local businesses that want to promote community events, such as coffee shops.

If you want to reach the widest possible audience at no cost and for just a half an hour’s work, write a letter to your school newspaper stating the new group on campus and calling on students of conscience to help out. Be sure to visit the newspaper’s website to find their preferred length and style requirements, and include contact information so that readers can find you and get involved.

Another great way to attract new people is simply by being an activist yourself. Activism means touching people in order to change them. This means that by being an activist you are interacting with hundreds of potential activists every day, whether they are already sympathetic and simply don’t know anyone else, or they are simply horrified when they find out the truth and want to help. Either way, you’re well on your way to building solidarity and establishing powerful campaigns to make lasting changes at your college!

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Farm Sanctuary President and co-founder Gene Baur will be speaking at Penn State University on Thursday, February 3, 2011.

Presentation:
“Farm Sanctuary: Changing How Society Views Animals and Food”
a presentation by Gene Baur

When:
Thursday, February 3, 2011
7 – 8:30 PM

Where:
Penn State University Campus
Kern Hall, Room 112
State College, PA

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Originally printed in the Penn State Daily Collegian on September 3, 2010.

I enjoyed reading about Penn State’s creative methods for sustainable living in Thursday’s article “Penn State researches canola as energy source.” However, there is a much cheaper way to make dining halls more sustainable: add more vegan food.

According to an extensive United Nations study, raising animals for food contributes more to climate change than all cars, boats and trains combined.

The amount of resources wasted on producing animal-derived products is staggering. We currently feed more than 70 percent of the grains grown in the U.S. to animals raised for food. Similarly, nearly half of the water and 80 percent of agricultural land consumed in this country are used for livestock, rather than direct consumption by humans. Passing these resources through animals — who use up 90 percent of the energy they consume simply by living their lives — requires exponentially more land, water and other resources than simply eating plants directly.

Drew Winter

College Campaigns Assistant, peta2

Letters to the editor are one of the best ways to alert your campus of animal issues and events. Just thirty minutes of thoughtful writing can reach tens of thousands of students: more than you could reach leafleting for an entire day!

When writing letters, be sure to include the 2-3 pieces of information most important for readers. Never waste time responding to critics; instead use the opportunity to turn the conversation towards the topics you want to discuss.

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ICAS now offers unpaid internships and volunteer positions for anyone interested in learning how to run a program or project, delegate tasks, edit articles, public relations, write policy reports, and conduct research and analysis.

This is a great experience for college students and activists to gain skills working with a professional non-profit animal advocacy organization while fostering positive social change. _________________________

• The internship program with ICAS is open to students and community members and is more formal and directed overseen by a faculty member. The internship program can be either a semester or a academic year long. Internship programs are typically dedicated to a specific goal, project, time line, and process. Internships can be either academic based with credits (1 to 3) or non-academic, but either of the two they are both structured with a set number of hour of work a week for ICAS. All interns are via internet unless the intern is a SUNY Cortland student.

• The volunteer program with ICAS is open to students and community members and is more informal and gear around the schedule and energy of the individual. Volunteers can either be short-term focusing on a specific event or project or long-term assisting ICAS when they have time.

_________________________

If you would like to apply please send:

1. A 500 word personal statement
2. Your full contact information (phone-number, e-mail, name, address)
3. 3 references
4. Skills you have
5. Area of ICAS you would like to assist with

Send everything to:  icas@criticalanimalstudies.org

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Lodging and Travel
9th Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies
Unveiling Anarchist Studies Initiative &
Farm Sanctuary Tour

April 9, 10, and 11, 2010
SUNY, Cortland, NY
http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/conference-for-critical-animal-studies/north-american-conference-for-cas/

________________________________________________

Hi everyone,

Below is some information on discount lodging and the new ICAS message board which can be used for conference related discussion.

Hotel Discount

The Econo Lodge with provide a 12% discount which comes to $79.00/night. The benefit of this hotel is its proximity to the SUNY Cortland campus. It is only ten minutes walking distance, or a short taxi ride away.

If you would like to stay at the Econo with the discount, contact:
Beth Green at bethgreen05@yahoo.com

Please inform Beth what type of room you would like and which nights you plan to stay. Once close to 10 rooms are confirmed Beth will pass the information on to the hotel. The hotel and Beth will then contact guests individually to confirm reservation and discuss payments (for those who prefer to pay once they arrive, the hotel must be provided with a credit card number). If you contact Beth and 10 rooms are already booked, she will advise you to contact Econo Lodge directly and simply state you are part of the conference to get the discount.

Please note that if there are not close to ten people interested in this hotel, a smaller discount will be applied.

Message Boar

There is a new message board for the conference. This can be used for travel and rideshare organizing, or anything else conference related that you would like to discuss. You can view it at:
http://excoboard.com/icas. You do not need to be registered to post on this board.

We look forward to meeting you in Cortland!

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In January 2010, The Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) and The Vegan Police Radio, located in St. Catharines, Canada developed a partnership rooted in the tradition of Paulo Freire’s philosophy of dialoguing for liberation and freedom.

“[T]he more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into a dialogue with them. This person does not consider himself or herself the proprietor of history or of all people, or the liberator of the oppressed; but he or she does commit himself or herself, within history, to fight at their side.”
— Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

“Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people–they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress.”
— Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The Vegan Police, facilitated by Dylan Powell and supported by Ryan Sexton and Crista Murphy directing the tech work, engage in radio dialogues that are organic and politically grounded with particular socio-political values. Their approach is unlike that of a typical interview, which may be useful to disseminate information (such as for an event, campaign or news) but lacks a critical pedagogy for all participants. The Vegan Police are based in critical theory and pedagogy rather than a detached apolitical process for production purposes.

Vegan Police Radio is a socio-political project grounded in radical politics and critical animal studies, i.e., for the liberation and freedom for animals and abolition of animal oppression and domination. They are not concerned with their rates or sponsors, but a mission for total liberation. Therefore, they reach out to a specific community who shares these goals.

In this collaboration, ICAS hopes to aid in the legitimizing of radio dialogues as a theoretical and methodological process.

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9th Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies

April 10, 2010
SUNY Cortland, NY
Moffett Center
9AM to 7PM

Theme: Abolition, Liberation, and the Intersections within Social Justice

______________________

$15.00 Registration Fee.
**Free for SUNY Cortland students
**People tabling need to register

Click Here: 2010 Flyer (8 1/2 x 14 in) (PDF)
Click Here: 2010 Schedule Chart (8 1/2 x 14 in) (PDF)
Click Here: 2010 Schedule List (PDF)
Click Here: 2010 Registration Form (PDF)
Click Here: Presenters’ Biographies (PDF)

For any inquiries contact editor@politicalmediareview.org

• Map/Direction

• Cortland, New York, Lodging

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Co-sponsored by:

Institute for Critical Animal Studies
Women’s Studies, SUNY Cortland
Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Criminology, SUNY Cortland
Transformative Studies Institute
Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS), SUNY Cortland
Anarchist Studies Initiative, SUNY Cortland
Political Media Review
Sacco and Vanzetti Foundation
Institute for Disability Studies, SUNY Cortland
Center for Green Criminology and Security Studies
Save the Kids
Criminology Club, SUNY Cortland
Outdoor Empowerment
Central New York Peace Studies Consortium
Social Advocacy and Systems Change, SUNY Cortland
Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies, SUNY Cortland

________________________________________________________________

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**Call for Nominations for Annual 2010 Critical Animal Studies Awards. Deadline Feb 25, 2010. Please send nominations to Sarat Colling: editor@politicalmediareview.org

**There are four awards see below for descriptions.
______________________________________________________________

1. Critical Animal Studies Media of the Year – For outstanding media such as documentaries, films, book, visual art, operas, plays, and music in the field of critical animal studies. The media cannot be older than two years. We stress that critical animal studies includes any topic, issue, or concern (from environmentalism to prisoners’ rights) that promotes the protection, liberation, and freedom of animals in the world and is based not only on theory, but in practice as well. The media can come from any discipline or topic including, but not limited to, international studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, religion, sociology, environmentalism, critical animal studies, social work, biology, history, economics, public administration, criminology, philosophy, anthropology, chemistry, medicine, agriculture, political science, disability studies and information studies. To nominate media for this award, simply send the media to the ICAS.
______________________________________________________________
2. Critical Animal Studies Undergraduate Paper/Project/Thesis of the Year – Awarded to an undergraduate student who has written an outstanding paper/thesis that promotes, or who has established and organized a project that fosters animal protection, liberation, and freedom. We are strongly interested in projects that bridge the gap between academia and the surrounding community. To nominate an undergraduate student for this award, the nominator must write a one page letter and include the paper or write a one page detailed description of the project.
______________________________________________________________
3. Critical Animal Studies Graduate Paper/Project/Dissertation of the Year – Awarded to any graduate student working on a masters or doctorate degree who has written an outstanding paper/thesis that promotes, or who has established and organized a project that fosters animal protection, liberation, and freedom. We are strongly interested in projects that bridge the gap between academia and the surrounding community. To nominate a graduate student for this award, the nominator must write a one page letter and include the paper or write a one page detailed description of the project.
______________________________________________________________
4. Critical Animal Studies Faculty Paper/Project of the Year – Awarded to a faculty member conducting research or working at a college, university or institute who has written an outstanding paper that promotes, or who has established and organized a project that fosters animal protection, liberation, and freedom. We are strongly interested in projects that bridge the gap between academia and the surrounding community. To nominate a professor for this award, the nominator must write a one page letter and include the paper or write a one page detailed description of the project.
__________________________________

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Most recently to build a bigger and better bridge between academics and activists the Journal for Critical Animal Studies (JCAS) is now accepting for the first time commentary and summaries of events, forums, lectures. etc. See below for submission guidelines.

• Please read these guidelines below and then send your article, essay, review, research notes, conference summary, etc. to: Dr. Richard White, Chief Editor, Journal for Critical Animal Studies (JCAS). For more information about the JCAS click here.

_________________________________________

Publication Dates:
JCAS is published 3 times a year:

• Spring Issue – June
• Fall Issue – October
• Winter Issue – February

_________________________________________

Submission Guidelines:

We seek:

• research articles and essays – 2,000 to 10,000 words
• student final papers – no more than 10,000 words
• course/class summaries – no more than 2,000 words
• research notes – no more than 2,000 words
• commentary – no more than 2,000 words
• tactic and strategy analysis – no more than 10,000 words
• academic development – no more than 10,000 words
• lecture summaries – no more than 2,000 words
• conference summaries – no more than 2,000 words
• protest summaries – no more than 2,000 words
• action alert summaries – no more than 2,000 words
• film, book, art, and media reviews – no more than 3,000 words
• interviews and dialogues – between 1,000 to 10,000 words
• poems – no more than 10,000 words

_________________________________________

Style/Format:

• All submissions should have appropriate references and citations. Manuscripts should be double-spaced in 12-point font and conform to the Harvard style format.
• Commentary and Summaries can be style/format free.
• Submissions must be sent in Microsoft Word format. Submissions in other software formats will not be reviewed.
• Authors should remove all self-identification from their submissions, but all submissions must be accompanied by a title page with author(s) name and affiliation, name of type of submission (e.g., article, review, conference summary, etc.), contact information including e-mail, postal address, and phone number.
• Authors must include an abstract of no more than 150 words that briefly describes the manuscript’s contents.

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Review Process:

• Upon acceptance for review, the editors will send manuscripts, under a double-peer reviewed process, to no less than two, and generally three reviewers. Reviewers provide their recommendations to the editor, who makes the final decision to accept the manuscript.

_________________________________________

Submissions will be assigned to one of the four following categories:

1. accept without revisions

2. accept with editorial revisions

3. revise and resubmit for peer review

4. reject *

• Every effort will be made to inform authors of the editor’s decision within 100 days of receipt of a manuscript. Authors, whose manuscripts are accepted for publication, will be asked to submit a brief biography that includes their institutional or organizational affiliations and their research interests. The Journal for Critical Animal Studies only publishes original materials. Please do not submit manuscripts that are under review or previously published elsewhere.

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Copyright, Republishing, and Royalties:

• All Work published by the Journal is copyrighted by JCAS.
• Republication of Contributor’s Submitted Work may be assessed a reasonable fee for the administration and facilitation to other presses. Such fee shall be determined at the discretion of Journal for Critical Animal Studies.
• Royalties: Contributor agrees and acknowledges that no royalty, payment, or other compensation will be provided by Journal for Critical Animal Studies in exchange for or resulting from the publication of the Submitted Work.

_________________________________________

Submit to:

• Please send all submissions for the Journal via e-mail to:
  Dr. Richard White, Editor-In-Chief

_________________________________________

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From ICAS’s Co-Senior Editor of the Critical Animal Studies Book Series, Helena Pedersen comes, “Animals in Schools: Processes and Strategies in Human-Animal Education” an outstanding and pivotal short 128 page easy publication to read. Pedersen opens the book with a detailed analysis of critical animal studies, with a strong intersectional analysis from Marx to feminism. The book challenges the false social constructed binary of humans and animals and demands society be more critical and aware of human domination through acts of colonialism and global capitalism.

Animals in Schools explores important questions in the field of critical animal studies and education by close examination of a wide range of educational situations and classroom activities. How are human-animal relations expressed and discussed in school? How do teachers and students develop strategies to handle ethical conflicts arising from the ascribed position of animals as accessible to human control, use, and killing? How do schools deal with topics such as zoos, hunting, and meat consumption? These are questions that have profound implications for education and society. They are graphically described, discussed, and rendered problematic based on detailed ethnographic research and are analyzed by means of a synthesis of perspectives from critical theory, gender, and postcolonial thought. Animals in Schools makes human-animal relations a crucial issue for pedagogical theory and practice.

About the Author

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