1st Annual South American Conference for Critical Animal Studies
Friday August 10, 2012
Chile

TEMA: “Hablar sobre Animales, Teoría y Activismo”

La invitación es la siguiente: se acoge a todo/a aquel que quiera hablar lo que quiera sobre animales. La consigna es arriesgada, pero con justa razón.
Los estudios críticos de animales son el primer campo académico de estudio dedicado a la abolición de la explotación animal y ecológica, de la opresión, apropiación y la dominación. Está basado en un movimiento amplio, global, emancipatorio e inclusivo, que persigue la liberación total y la libertad ante dicha opresión.
Nos interesa llamar la atención sobre las nuevas y viejas formas de pensar al animal (en las diversas maneras que toma la etiqueta de lo animal), que a lo largo de la historia, han terminado identificándolo, o bien con un homólogo fantasioso del humano, o bien una máquina de reflejos.
En ese sentido, un problema con que se encuentran los estudios críticos animales en general es aquél que lidia con la dificultad de encontrar la forma de cómo hablar justamente al/del/sobre-el animal. ¿Qué es un animal? ¿De qué hablamos, de qué queremos hablar, cuando hablamos de animales?
Es preciso buscar -como si fuera posible- una forma de hablar de los animales de manera alternativa a lo hecho corrientemente, en referencia a cómo hablamos de nosotros mismos, obligándonos así a repensar, no sólo al animal y la relación de éste con el ser humano, sino incluso la propia condición humana en general, que es en sí mismo un trabajo harto-urgente y necesario. Y desde esa nueva conceptualización que es tan enigmática todavía, buscar una nueva normativa. No se trata de borrar las diferencias, ni de desplazarlas; se trata de reconocerlas y convivir con ellas.

Es en esa reflexión, que la invitación no es a estudiar, viviseccionar, analizar al animal, sino hablar de él, conversar, desde nuestras distintas posturas cotidianas y áreas de conocimiento. Sea quizás la mejor manera de conocer un animal sin ponerle rejas o correas.
Por cierto, hay una total falta de presencia (salvo raras excepciones) de estas problemáticas de estudio en los programas de cualquier disciplina enseñada a nivel universitario. Los estudios críticos animales en sudamérica prácticamente no existen, y será también necesario reflexionar sobre eso.
¿Cómo puede pensarse en derechos animales en un continente que con justa razón se preocupa tan animadamente sobre los derechos humanos?
¿Hay algo en nuestra calidad de colonizados, de latinos, que es tocado por la dimensión subversiva que los estudios críticos mantienen en tanto estudio de una minoría oprimida?
Se trata, entonces, de comenzar a promover mediante las estrategias enunciadas la necesidad de llevar adelante estos estudios. Los estudios críticos animales asumen, aquí y ahora, la tarea de llamar la atención sobre la ausencia de estas reflexiones y problemáticas en la situación académica latinoamericana.
Bienvenidos,

ICAS Sudamérica.

*Fecha y dirección del evento están por confirmarse.

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ICAS Satellite Event at Minding Animals 2

This event is FREE and attendance at Minding Animals is not a pre-requisite. However please register for the event by sending an e-mail to mindinganimals@gmail.com because space is limited.

MAI would like to announce that the Institute for Critical Animal Studies will be holding a special Critical Animal Studies roundtable between 2:30pm and 5:30pm on 3 July in Utrecht before the Opening Reception to Minding Animals 2. A lunchtime roundtable will also follow during the main conference. Places are strictly limited to 100 people, so you MUST register your attendance – first come, first served. If you would like to register for this event, please send an email to mindinganimals@gmail.com Venue details and an agenda for this Special Event will be sent to all registrants before the Utrecht conference.

The founding of the Institute of Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) in 2001 helped to consolidate and give a name to diverse scholarly voices advocating a new ethical and social relationship between Homo sapiens and the other animal species.  Grounded in normative opposition to human domination and oppression of other animals, the field of Critical Animal Studies (CAS) has developed into a multi- and cross-disciplinary field combining animal liberation activism and serious scholarship.  In cooperation with Minding Animals, ICAS invites participation in its afternoon Satellite Symposium on July 3.  The event will delineate possible future trajectories for CAS internationally.

As the early 21st century unfolds, thousands of other species are imperilled, while billions of individual animals suffer and die in countless animal industries dispersed throughout the globe.  Given this urgent context, what is the best way for international scholars in Critical Animal Studies to work together to maximise our impact as engaged intellectuals, both within our respective disciplines and across disciplines?  Conversely, what are some of the constraints acting against the growth of Critical Animal Studies?  Interested parties are encouraged to submit abstracts for a short discussion paper (15 minute presentation) based on one of the following two broad themes:

1. Strategy and Collaboration.  What areas of thematic convergence or shared emphasis might we identify, to ensure that the whole of our efforts is somehow more than the sum of our many parts?  What specific interventions or campaigns might we as intellectuals commit ourselves to in the near term, in order to impact knowledge production at the national and international levels?  How might we strengthen collaborative efforts across national borders?  How might our encounters across disciplines (and national cultures) generate new collaborative projects, actions, concepts, strategies, and theories?  How can they mobilise productive sites and forms of resistance and innovation against diverse manifestations of animal oppression?

2. The Future of CAS within the Disciplines.  As we look toward the future of CAS from our own individual disciplinary locations, what opportunities and challenges do we see for expanding the influence of CAS within those disciplines?  What should the relationship be between CAS and mainstream animal studies?  What would a more effective CAS political science, CAS economics, CAS literature, CAS geography, CAS sociology, CAS education, and so on, look like?  What priorities might we set for these CAS disciplinary ‘subfields’ do?  What should be their specific powers and effects?

The session will be devoted to a discussion of the Symposium themes, with the aim of reaching consensus on new directions for Critical Animal Studies.  Everyone is welcome to attend, but you will need to pre-register by emailing mindinganimals@gmail.com .  Papers, however, will primarily be solicited by personal invitation of the organisers.  However, interested scholars who have a strong wish to present should feel free to send a paper or paper abstract directly to the Symposium organiser, John Sanbonmatsu ( js@wpi.edu ), for consideration (no later than June 10).

Special note: the discussion will continue during a special lunchtime roundtable during the Minding Animals conference (date to be announced).  Participants need not plan to attend the Minding Animals conference in order to participate in the ICAS Symposium; however, you will need to be a Minding Animals delegate to attend the lunchtime roundtable.

To be kept informed of developments regarding the 2012 conference, please email your details (name, affiliation and email address only) to the following email address: mindinganimals@gmail.com

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Since 2010, Princeton University has been cited over twenty times to be in violation of the bare minimum requirements set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Act. Amongst the staggering list of charges, reports unveiled that the University has neglected ailing animals, deliberately deprived animals of water and veterinary medical care, routinely subjected animals to excessive confinement, and maintained speciously incomplete record keeping.

In response to this degenerate display of Princeton University’s blatant disregard for the animals they hold captive, a large and organized anti-vivisection alliance has emerged consisting of Win Animal Rights (WAR), Animal Activists of Philly (AAP), and Friends of Animals United NY/NJ (FAUN) to bring these egregious acts into the public consciousness. While these organizations have been tirelessly campaigning against this institution for over eight months, they are now unifying their efforts by establishing a Princeton-based body of campaigners, increasing their presence on other areas of the campus (including Green Hall – the actual primate laboratory), circulating petitions, creating relevant multi-media content, and with the support/sponsorship of Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) are developing a central website to expose the horrors behind these violations.

To join the cause, sign the petition, donate, and/or learn more please visit the links provided below:

Princeton Primate Abuse: http://www.princetonprimateabuse.com/

Friends of Animals United (FAUN): http://www.faunnj.org/

Animal Activists of Philly (AAP): http://www.meetup.com/Animal-Activists-of-Philly/

Win Animal Rights (WAR): http://www.facebook.com/WinAnimalRights

Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN): http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/

Video of the Alliance’s protest on April 28th, 2012: http://youtu.be/nAaOvh0csOk

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Tereza Vandrovcová the main organizer of last year’s 2nd Annual European Conference on Critical Animal Studies, defines Critical Animal Studies on a Vimeo video.

Tereza Vandrovcová on Critical Animal Studies from F Tepper on Vimeo.

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MAD Update, SLAPP Lawsuits, and the 2012 North American Critical Animal Studies Conference

Dylan Powell is back on the show to not only give us an update on the Marineland Animal Defense campaign but to also talk about the ways that MAD and Shark Allies Niagara have dealt with the threat of SLAPP lawsuits (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). An important conversation considering the current climate of repression to environmental and animal rights activists.

After the break Kimberly Socha joins Dylan Powell to talk about the 11th Annual North American Critical Animal Studies Conference in Buffalo, New York from March 2-4, 2012 at Canisius College. We even get hear a little bit about Socha’s new book, “Women, Destruction, and the Avant-Garde: A Paradigm for Animal Liberation“ the first publication of a new Critical Animal Studies book series.

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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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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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2011 European 2nd Annual Conference for Critical Animal Studies

Prague, Czech Republic

October 15th – 16th, 2011

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THEME:

“RECONFIGURING THE ‘HUMAN’/’ANIMAL’ BINARY – RESISTING VIOLENCE”

For more information:

click here

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This two-day interdisciplinary conference will critically explore a variety of issues concerning the historic, current, and future situation of nonhuman animals across globally interconnected societies. Adopting a Critical Animal Studies perspective this conference seeks to interrogate not only the ‘question of the animal’ but also, with urgency, the deteriorating lived circumstances of many nonhuman animals. We are especially pleased to be hosting this conference in association with the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) as the 2nd Annual European Conference for Critical Animal Studies.

The 2nd annual European ICAS conference is an official pre-event for  Minding Animals 2 – which takes place at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 1-7th July 2012.

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Andy Stepanian, cofounder of the Sparrow Media Project and defendant in the landmark SHAC7 case, will be coming to New York University’s Kimmel Center on Tuesday, April 26th to speak on matters pertaining to contemporary activist endeavors.  Specifically, he will reflect on his experiences and observations as to which tactics and strategies are effective, when to employ them, and how the inclusion of varied approaches when advocating for an issue can often yield the most positive outcomes.  Given his extensive background with non-violent direct action movements, his role in the campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences, and his current work with the Sparrow Media Project, the evening is sure to be an engaging one for all who attend.  Open to the public.

Date:  Tuesday, April 26^th, 2011

Time:  6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:  NYU’s Kimmel Center, Room 803

Relevant Links:

www.sparrowmedia.net

www.shac7.com

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Gene Baur
Author and Co-Founder of Farm Sanctuary

Book Signing and Talk

April 13, 2011

7 to 8pm

Moffett Hall 2125

SUNY Cortland, New York

Gene Baur is co‑founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, America’s leading farm animal protection organization. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from California State University, Northridge and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University. He has conducted hundreds of visits to farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses to document conditions. His pictures and videotape, exposing factory farming cru…elty, have been aired nationally and internationally, educating millions. Gene has testified in court and before local, state and federal legislative bodies, and has initiated groundbreaking legal enforcement and legislative action to prevent farm animal abuse. He played an important role in passing the first U.S. laws to prohibit cruel farming methods – including the Florida ban on gestation crates, the Arizona ban on veal and gestation crates, the California ban on veal and gestation crates and battery cages, and the California ban on foie gras. His efforts have been covered by leading news organizations, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN. His book, entitled Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, was published by Touchstone in March, 2008 and has appeared on the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe best seller lists.

More about Gene at: http://www.genebaur.org/

Sponsored by:
Anthony Nocella’s Deviant Behavior Course and Cortland Animal Allies

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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.”

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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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Dr. Melanie Joy presents: “Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism”
Monday – March 28, 2011

This slide show is based on the critically acclaimed book of the same name. In Why We Love Dogs…social psychologist Melanie Joy explains carnism, the invisible belief system that shapes our perception of the meat we eat, so that we love some animals and eat others without knowing why. Joy explains how carnism, like other isms, (sexis…m, racism, etc.) is most harmful when it is unrecognized; and it is sustained by complex, hidden social and psychological mechanisms.

Dr. Joy is a Harvard-educated psychologist, personal/relationship coach, professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and celebrated speaker.

Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3)
170 North Street, Dryden, NY 13053

Monday, March 28, 2011 in the Forum from 12pm-1pm with book signing to immediately follow.

Books will be available for sale in the TC3 Bookstore in the weeks leading up the the event and after. This event is free and open to the public.

This event is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Services, the Social Science department, the Women and Gender Studies program, and the Sustainability Council.

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