Human-Animal Studies Newsletter May, 2018
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Having trouble viewing this email? Click here Hi, just a reminder that you're receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in Animals and Society Institute. Don't forget to add [email protected] to your address book so we'll be sure to land in your inbox! You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails. Share this newsletter over social media or via email Human-Animal Studies Newsletter May, 2018 Dear Colleague, Welcome to the current issue of the Animals & Society Institute's Human- Animal Studies e-newsletter. I hope that this issue has information that is of use to you. Please let me know what you'd like to see! For future editions of this newsletter, please send submissions to [email protected]. ASI News Have you been watching our newest project, the Defining HAS Video series? We have released 10 videos so far, by scholars Peter Singer, Ken Shapiro, Corey Lee Wrenn, Lisa Kemmerer, Anthony Podberscek, Constance Russell, Maneesha Deckha, Agustin Fuentes, and David Favre, and have a bunch more waiting to come out. Take a look at the current ones, and some of the upcoming videos, here! The Animals & Society Institute (ASI) and Wesleyan Animal Studies (WAS) invite applications for the sixth annual Undergraduate Prize Competition for Undergraduate Students Pursuing Research in Human-Animal Studies. ASI and WAS will award a prize to an outstanding, original theoretical or empirical scholarly work that advances the field of human-animal studies. Papers can come from any undergraduate discipline in the humanities, social sciences or natural sciences, and must be between 4,000-7,000 words long, including abstract and references. The winning paper will be published in Society & Animals, an interdisciplinary journal that publishes articles describing and analyzing experiences of and with non-human animals. Topics can include human-animal interactions in various settings (animal cruelty, the therapeutic uses of animals), the applied uses of animals (research, education, medicine and agriculture), the use of animals in culture (e.g. dog- fighting, circus, animal companions, animal research), attitudes toward animals as affected by different socializing agencies and strategies, representations of animals in literature, art, or popular culture, the domestication of animals, the politics of animal welfare, or the constitution of the animal rights movement. The deadline is August 1. Find out more here! HAS News The Animal Legal Defense Fund is pleased to announce their free Animal Law Summer School in 2018! All are welcome to join for three 90-minute webinars provided by leading authorities on cutting-edge topics in animal law. The Animal Law Summer School is an opportunity to hone your skills and gain both practical and substantive knowledge about important issues currently facing animals in the legal system. Participants will learn from the experts and enjoy an interactive Q&A session. Don't miss the chance to get an in-depth look into what it means to advocate for animals through the legal system. The Animal Law Summer School is suitable for anyone interested in animal law, current and future law students, attorneys, legal professionals and animal advocates. Applications are now open for the 'Jews for Animals' college fellowship program for the 2018-2019 school year! This program is an initiative of The Shamayim V'Aretz Institute, a Jewish animal welfare organization that educates leaders, trains advocates, and leads campaigns for the ethical treatment of animals. Fellows will learn from Jewish animal advocates on monthly conference calls and complete campus projects, learning how to raise awareness and best articulate animal welfare causes and Jewish veganism. Fellows will also be invited to our national retreat in March, 2019. Fellows receive seed money for campus projects and financial assistance for travel to the retreat in addition to a $500 stipend upon completion of all fellowship requirements. Please email [email protected] for more information. Horses and Humans Research Foundation (HHRF) announces an open call for proposals to investigate the therapeutic effects of horses on humans. The Foundation's broad research agenda includes basic research as well as clinical studies that will ultimately impact physical and mental health and quality of life for those engaged in equine-assisted activities/therapies (EAA/T). Deadline for submission proposals is June 30. Up to fifty thousand dollars in research funding will be offered through a rigorous application and review process. Grants are selected on a competitive basis, taking into account scientific merit, scientific and clinical significance and relevance. Preference will be given to investigators with solid credentials and research experience. Information for applicants, including application materials, previously funded projects, review guidelines and more are available at horsesandhumans.org. New Books Following are some of the books coming out that we are excited about! Lindner, L. (2018). Birds of a feather: A true story of hope and the healing power of animals. Macmillan. Animal lover though she was, Lorin Lindner was definitely not looking for a pet. Then came Sammy - a mischievous and extremely loud bright pink Moluccan cockatoo who had been abandoned. It was love at first sight. But Sammy needed a companion. Enter Mango, lover of humans ("Hewwo"), inveterate thief of precious objects. Realizing that there were many parrots in need of new homes, Dr. Lindner eventually founded a sanctuary for them. Meanwhile, she began to meet homeless veterans on the streets of Los Angeles. Before long she was a full time advocate for these former service members, who were often suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Ultimately, Dr. Lindner created a program for them, too. Eventually the two parts of her life came together when she founded Serenity Park, a unique sanctuary on the grounds of the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Administration Healthcare Center. She had noticed that the veterans she treated as a clinical psychologist and the parrots she had taken in as a rescuer quickly formed bonds. Men and women who had been silent in therapy would share their stories and their feelings more easily with animals. Birds of a Feather is ultimately a love story between veterans and the birds they nurse back to health and between Dr. Lindner and her husband, a veteran with PTSD, who healed at Serenity Park. Full of remarkable people and colorful birds, this book reminds us that we all have the power to make a difference. Quinn, E., & Westwood, B. (Eds.). (2018). Thinking Veganism in Literature and Culture: Towards a Vegan Theory. Springer. This collection explores what the social and philosophical aspects of veganism offer to critical theory. Bringing together leading and emerging scholars working in animal studies and critical animal studies, Thinking Veganism in Literature and Culture shows how the experience of being vegan, and the conditions of thought fostered by veganism, pose new questions for work across multiple disciplines. Offering accounts of veganism which move beyond contemporary conceptualizations of it as a faddish dietary preference or set of proscriptions, it explores the messiness and necessary contradictions involved in thinking about or practicing a vegan way of life. By thinking through as well as about veganism, the project establishes the value of a vegan mode of reading, writing, looking, and thinking. Osbourne, P. (2018). Connections: Animal Assisted Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias. PYOW Publishing. Connections is a book for people whose lives have been touched by Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias (ADRD). A guide for health care professionals, Animal Assisted Therapy teams, family members, friends or caregivers, the book is insightful, informative and instructive in its ability to show how Animal Assisted Therapy can be used to help those with ADRD connect some dots that might otherwise remain unconnected. It's a first- hand personal account of the author's own experiences with her mother who was affected by ADRD the last six years of her life, and her father who did everything in his power to take care of his wife of over 70 years. Her therapy dog, Rufus played a major role by providing her parents gentle companionship at times and at other times interacting with them in a way that encouraged more activity. Inspired by what Rufus and her mom accomplished together, after her mom's death the author and Rufus continued to visit the other residents at her mom's community. This book shows how some very ordinary activities can make a difference in a life in an extraordinary way. Sometimes, funny, sometimes heartbreaking. But for anyone who wants to improve the quality of lives of those with ADRD, this is a must read. McKenna, E. (2018). Livestock: Food, Fiber, and Friends. University of Georgia Press. Most livestock in America currently live in cramped and unhealthy confinement, have few stable social relationships with humans or others of their species, and finish their lives by being transported and killed under stressful conditions. In Livestock, Erin McKenna allows us to see this situation and presents alternatives. She interweaves stories from visits to farms, interviews with producers and activists, and other rich material about the current condition of livestock. In addition, she mixes her account with pragmatist and ecofeminist theorizing about animals, drawing in particular on John Dewey's account of evolutionary history, and provides substantial historical background about individual species and about human-animal relations. This deeply informative text reveals that the animals we commonly see as livestock have rich evolutionary histories, species-specific behaviors, breed tendencies, and individual variation, just as those we respect in companion animals such as dogs, cats, and horses. To restore a similar level of respect for livestock, McKenna examines ways we can balance the needs of our livestock animals with the environmental and social impacts of raising them, and she investigates new possibilities for human ways of being in relationships with animals.