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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In a recent New York Times article exploring the rise of the many manifestations of “animal studies” across campuses and universities nationwide, the Institute for Critical Animal Studies’ Journal for Critical Animal Studies was noted as being part of this important, growing movement in the academy. In particular, Karen L.F. Houle’s essay “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Ethics as Extension or Becoming? The Case of Becoming-Plant” (Volume IX, Issue 1/2, 2011) got special mention for “following in [the] word tracks” of Jacques Derrida.

The term “animal studies,” developed out of the field of animal research (i.e., nonhuman animal testing, dissection, and vivisection), can be confusing to some advocates. Two academic fields that arose at the same time in defense and advocacy of nonhuman animals are human-animal studies and critical animal studies. Moreover, human-animal studies was also mentioned under the umbrella of animal studies, but instead relates to animal advocacy, welfare, and protection. Recently, animal studies and human-animal studies have been adopted by objectivist opportunists not dedicated to promoting veganism and animal liberation, but rather, they are interested in theoretically studying the concept of the animal as subject. This can be argued,  as noted by Anthony J. Nocella II, as leading to theoretical vivisection lacking ethical consideration. Just as activist-academics from the Animals and Society Institute are trying to keep true to what human-animal studies is (i.e. animal protection and advocacy), critical animal studies and the Institute for Critical Animal Studies, a more board and radical field of study, must demand that those who use the term critical animal studies stay engaged in intersectional social justice “dedicated to the abolition of animal and ecological exploitation, oppression, and domination. CAS is grounded in a broad, global, emancipatory, and inclusionary movement for total  liberation and freedom” (ICAS website).

To forward the goals of ICAS and CAS, we will be holding the 11th Annual Conference for Critical Animal Studies with a special theme “From Greece to Wall Street: Global Economic Revolutions and Critical Animal Studies.” This event is taking place from March 2-4 at Canisius College on Buffalo, NY.

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March 2 – 4, 2012
Canisius College
Buffalo, New York, USA

Host Sponsors:
Animal Allies Club of Canisius College

THEME:
From Greece to Wall St.: Global Economic Revolutions and Critical Animal Studies

As worldwide economies collapse and socio-political revolutions arise in response to education tuition increases, job losses, tax increases, land rights, and religious division, governments are collapsing only to be hijacked by corporations. In the US, national and transnational banks and financial institutions are being bailed out by the government, while common people are kicked out of their homes and fired from their jobs so corporations can save money. Simultaneously, global revolutionary fervor increases against corporations, banks, and corrupt financial institutions. People are demanding their rights and their nations back. The results of this backlash are police brutality and political repression toward activists worldwide. The theme of this year’s annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies is based on inquiry into how economic markets locally, regionally, nationally and globally affect nonhuman animals. Can these revolutions include a critical animal studies agenda? If not, why not? If they can, how would this agenda manifest both philosophically and strategically? How does the economy affect nonhuman animals? Are there alternative ethical and transformative economic systems that promote animal liberation? How are capitalism and transnational corporations affecting nonhuman animal exploitation? How do industrial complexes promote exploitive economic practices? What tactics and strategies can be used to resist economic exploitation? How do economic crises similarly oppress human and nonhuman animals and the environment? In what ways are the resulting oppressions intersectional? How are schooling, teaching, and education influenced by economic interests which promote exploitation?

We welcome proposals from community members including, but not limited to, nonprofit organizations, political leaders, activists, professors, staff, and students. We are especially interested in topics such as the history of social movements, spirituality and social movements, nonviolence, alliance politics, freedom, democracy, and notions of total inclusion. We are also interested in reaching across the disciplines and movements of environmentalism, education, poverty, feminism, LGBTQA, animal advocacy, globalization, prison abolition, prisoner support, labor rights, disability rights, anti-war activism, youth rights, indigenous rights/sovereignty, and other peace and social justice issues.

Areas of inquiry include:The Future of Critical Animal Studies
Revolution
Occupy Wall Street
Corporatization
Global Industrial Complex
Anarchist Studies
Feminism
Activism and Tactics for Social Change
Media
Social Networking
Critical Criminology
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA)
Speciesism
Animals in Relation to Religion and Spirituality
Abolition as Theory or Strategy
Animals and Property
Challenges to Human Domination
Sexuality and Gender
Culture, Language, and Animals
Racism
Domesticated and Wild Animals
Capitalism
Deconstructing Human and Animal
Social Constructions
Re-Defining Nature
Bio Ethics and Universal Ethics
Post-Colonialism
Geography, Space and Place
Animal Epistemology
Education and Schooling

Presentations should be fifteen to twenty minutes in length.

We are receptive to different and innovative formats including, but not limited to, roundtables, panels, community dialogues, theater, and workshops.

You may propose individual or group “panel” presentations, but please clearly specify the structure of your proposal.

Please stress in your paper/roundtable/panel/etc. how you will be focusing on the program theme and linking it to economics and critical animal studies.

Proposals or abstracts for panels, roundtables, workshops, or paper presentations should be no more than 500 words. Please send with each facilitator or presenter a 100 maximum word biography (speaking to your activism and scholarship) in third person paragraph form.

The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2012.

Accepted presenters will be notified via e-mail by January 25, 2012.

Please send proposals/abstracts and biographies electronically using MS Word and as an attachments in Times Roman 12 point font to: 

Stephanie Jenkins
Co-Conference Chair
scjenkins@gmail.com

Logistics Contact:
Morgan Jamie Dunbar
dunbarm@my.canisius.edu

Conference Schedule Contact:
Sarat Colling

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The following are the 2011 Scholars of the Year and Award Winners of the Year, that will be presented at the 10th Annual Conference for Critical Animal Studies Conference, “Thinking About Animals” at Brock University March 31 and April 1, 2011.

INSTITUTE FOR CRITICAL ANIMAL STUDIES
2011 ANNUAL AWARDS

2011 UNDERGRADUATE PAPER OF THE YEAR
“Animal Experimentation and the Law: Are the Laws Enough?”
Tayler Staneff

GRADUATE PAPER OF THE YEAR
“Gender and Slaughter in Popular Gastronomy”
Jovian Parry

MEDIA OF THE YEAR
“Bold Native”
Denis Henry Hennelly, Casey Suchan, Mary Pat Bentel, and Jeff Bollman

ACADEMIC BOOK OF THE YEAR
“Animals as Biotechnology: Ethics, Sustainability and Critical Animal Studies”
Richard Twine

ACTIVIST BOOK OF THE YEAR
“Muzzling a Movement: The Effects of Anti-Terrorism, Law, Money, and Politics on Animal Activism”
Dara Lovitz

2011 BRITCHES SCHOLAR OF THE YEAR
Jenny Grubbs

2011 TYKE SCHOLAR OF THE YEAR
A. Breeze Harper

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Book Talk – Call to Compassion with Anthony J. Nocella II
3 to 5
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Brooklyn’s Restaurant
206 Richmond St
Thorold, ON

“Covering doctrine and the lived experience of the world’s religious practitioners, Call to Compassion is a collection of stirring and passionate essays on the place of animals within the philosophical, cultural, and everyday milieus of spiritual practices both ancient and modern. From Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, through the Abrahamic traditions, to contemporary Wiccan and Native American spirituality, Call to Compassion charts the complex ways we interact with the world around us.”

_______________

Come join us at Brooklyn’s for some great vegan food and hear Anthony J. Nocella, co-editor of the book, talk about and expand upon its focus and intent.

http://www.lanternbooks.com/detail.html?id=9781590561829

Anthony J. Nocella II activist, academic, and author, is co-founder of the field of Critical Animal Studies and the Institute for Critical Animal Studies and teaches at SUNY Cortland in Education, Sociology, and Criminology. He is also co-editor of Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (2004).

http://www.anthonynocella.org/

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Protest Earlier that Day

We hope attendees will also join us at an anti-seal hunt demonstration planned for earlier in the day, more info here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=149468241782366

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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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Call for Nominations for Annual 2011 Institute for Critical Animal Studies Awards. Deadline: March 15, 2011.

1. 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, please write a one page letter and include the paper or write a one page detailed description of the project.

2. 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, please write a one page letter and include the paper or write a one page detailed description of the project.

3. 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, please write a one page letter and include the paper or write a one page detailed description of the project.

To see last year’s award winners, please visit: http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/initiative/annual-awards/current-award-winners/

Call for Nominations for Annual 2011 ICAS Scholar of the Year. Deadline: March 15, 2011.

Britches Scholar of the Year

Tyke Scholar of the Year

Two scholars will be recognized for an outstanding contribution to the field of Critical Animal Studies.

To see the current Scholars of the Year, please visit:

http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/initiative/scholarfellow-program/current-scholars/

Please send nominations to editor@politicalmediareview.org

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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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The Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) is the only animal advocacy organization in the world dedicated to higher education and is also fully-volunteer. There are more than two hundred ICAS volunteers who are around the world from professors to undergraduate students. After anyone realizes we are fully-volunteer and on a zero dollar budget people are speechless. Please watch this video of ICAS Top Ten Achievements of 2010 and donate and volunteer to ICAS, as we wish 2011 to be a huge year for ICAS and for the field of critical animal studies. Please if you cannot donate to or volunteer with ICAS, please put on a critical animal studies event at your community center, college, or university.

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While we don’t know about the commitments of the conference as a whole, check out this panel with three ICAS presenters at Wesleyan’s Sex, Gender, Species conference.  The panel is scheduled for 4pm on Saturday, February 26th.

“Precarious Life, Playful Life: The Ethics of Non-Violence”, Stephanie Jenkins, Penn State

“Species Trouble: Judith Butler’s Non-Sovereign Subject and the Human-Animal Divide”, Eric Jonas, Northwestern

“Frames of Life: Judith Butler and the Precarious Question of the Animal”, James Stanescu, Mercer

You can check out paper abstracts here.

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Institute for Critical Animal Studies, with the help of Anthony Nocella, produced the first Critical Animal Studies video, that is perfect for animal rights, animal law, animal ethics, critical animal studies, environmental sociology, and moral and ethics courses.

Critical Animal Studies (CAS) opposes Animal Studies (AS), which is historically rooted in the fields of agricultural and animal research and vivisection. “CAS is the academic field of study dedicated to the abolition of animal and ecological exploitation, oppression, and domination. CAS is grounded in a broad global emancipatory inclusionary movement for total liberation and freedom.”The Institute for Critical Animal Studies (written by Anthony Nocella, Steve Best, Richard Kahn, and Carol Gigliotti) describes ten principles of Critical Animal Studies such that it:

• 1. Pursues interdisciplinary collaborative writing and research in a rich and comprehensive manner that includes perspectives typically ignored by animal studies such as political economy.

• 2. Rejects pseudo-objective academic analysis by explicitly clarifying its normative values and political commitments, such that there are no positivist illusions whatsoever that theory is disinterested or writing and research is nonpolitical. To support experiential understanding and subjectivity.

• 3. Eschews narrow academic viewpoints and the debilitating theory-for-theory’s sake position in order to link theory to practice, analysis to politics, and the academy to the community.

• 4. Advances a holistic understanding of the commonality of oppressions, such that speciesism, sexism, racism, ablism, statism, classism, militarism and other hierarchical ideologies and institutions are viewed as parts of a larger, interlocking, global system of domination.

• 5. Rejects apolitical, conservative, and liberal positions in order to advance an anti-capitalist, and, more generally, a radical anti-hierarchical politics. This orientation seeks to dismantle all structures of exploitation, domination, oppression, torture, killing, and power in favor of decentralizing and democratizing society at all levels and on a global basis.

• 6. Rejects reformist, single-issue, nation-based, legislative, strictly animal interest politics in favor of alliance politics and solidarity with other struggles against oppression and hierarchy.

• 7. Champions a politics of total liberation which grasps the need for, and the inseparability of, human, nonhuman animal, and Earth liberation and freedom for all in one comprehensive, though diverse, struggle; to quote Martin Luther King Jr.: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

• 8. Deconstructs and reconstructs the socially constructed binary oppositions between human and nonhuman animals, a move basic to mainstream animal studies, but also looks to illuminate related dichotomies between culture and nature, civilization and wilderness and other dominator hierarchies to emphasize the historical limits placed upon humanity, nonhuman animals, cultural/political norms, and the liberation of nature as part of a transformative project that seeks to transcend these limits towards greater freedom, peace, and ecological harmony.

• 9. Openly supports and examines controversial radical politics and strategies used in all kinds of social justice movements, such as those that involve economic sabotage from boycotts to direct action toward the goal of peace.

• 10. Seeks to create openings for constructive critical dialogue on issues relevant to Critical Animal Studies across a wide-range of academic groups; citizens and grassroots activists; the staffs of policy and social service organizations; and people in private, public, and non-profit sectors. Through – and only through — new paradigms of ecopedagogy, bridge-building with other social movements, and a solidarity-based alliance politics, is it possible to build the new forms of consciousness, knowledge, social institutions that are necessary to dissolve the hierarchical society that has enslaved this planet for the last ten thousand years.

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