News Bulletin
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Issue 21, September 2013 News Bulletin http://www.aasg.org.au CONTENTS AASG NEWS ................................................................................................................................................ 2 CONFERENCE REPORT ............................................................................................................................. 3 REGIONAL NEWS ..................................................................................................................................... 21 CONFERENCES & SYMPOSIUMS ........................................................................................................... 27 GROUPS, INSTITUTES &NETWORKS ..................................................................................................... 37 SPECIAL REPORT: LETTER FROM ICELAND ........................................................................................ 42 NEW BOOKS .............................................................................................................................................. 44 JOURNALS................................................................................................................................................. 54 ART EXHIBITIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 57 FILMS and WEBSITES .............................................................................................................................. 65 AUDIO and VIDEO ..................................................................................................................................... 68 LINKS .......................................................................................................................................................... 69 PROFILES: TIM WATTERS, CLAUDE JONES, NIKKI SAVIDDES, OLGA KOTNOWSKA ...................... 72 MEMBERSHIP..…………………………………………………………………………………………………77 Issue 21, September 2013 News Bulletin http://www.aasg.org.au AASG News Annual General Meeting The 2013 AGM was held on Wednesday 10 July during AASG@Sydney: Life in the Anthropocene conference. The meeting accepted the resignation of General Committee Member Tess Williams and Vice Chairperson Leah Burns, who has taken up academic positions in Iceland. The AASG thanks Leah and Tess and wishes Leah well in her exciting new roles at the top of the world. Their positions on the AASG committee were filled unopposed by members Clare McCausland and Jennifer McDonell. Clare has recently completed a PhD on animal ethics at the University of Melbourne and Jennifer is a Senior Lecturer in English at the School of Arts, University of New England. Fiona Probyn-Rapsey was elected new Vice Chairperson. Dr Jennifer McDonell Dr Clare McCausland [email protected] [email protected] Website Profiles The AASG member database has been undergoing maintenance and now appears in a new searchable format at http://www.aasg.org.au/member-profiles. In the process we have uncovered some mystery gaps in the Member Profiles page. So if your name is there but the profile is blank, please get in touch! Or if you'd like your profile updated please let us know at any time via the 'Contact Us' form. Membership Has your membership expired? Membership fees support and improve the initiatives of AASG. They ensure we can continue to provide you with services such as the Bulletin and the website – where you can access information about animal studies, find funding opportunities, and access past issues of this publication. Membership will also ensure listing of your profile on the website: http://www.aasg.org.au/participants JOIN AASG You can join AASG online: Pay fees by EFT, accessible by hitting the JOIN US button on the Group’s website: http://www.aasg.org.au/ Or scan, fax or email a completed membership form, available online or at the bottom of this Bulletin, with your payment to: [email protected], fax: 6226 4308 or post to: Dr Yvette Watt, Treasurer, Australian Animal Studies Group, Box 4648, Bathurst St PO, Hobart TAS 7001 Annual membership fees: $40 for waged applicants, $20 for student, concession, or unwaged members 2 Conference Report AASG@SYDNEY: LIFE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE Law School, University of Sydney. 8-9 July 2013. Reports by Nik Taylor (Flinders University, Adelaide) and Colombina Schaeffer and Leonardo Valenzuela (Sydney University) Photos by Carol Freeman The Venue: Sydney University Law School The very successful fifth biennial AASG conference was hosted by Human Animal Research Network (HARN) and held at Sydney University Law School. Close to 200 delegates attended over three days and it is noteworthy that they were even more eager, informed, and confident than at previous conferences. This is testament to the maturity of Animal Studies in Australian academic life. It was also evident that this field of studies is intriguing to other disciplines. During lunch on the second day of the conference I sat beside delegates from another conference who had wandered into our lunch area. They commented on the food I was eating – “It looks so fresh; ours is plastic!” “Well” I replied, “it’s vegan: ours is an Animal Studies conference and it wouldn’t do to eat our subjects”. They were very interested in this notion and it gave me an opportunity to articulate what Animal Studies is all about: how it’s multidisciplinary nature makes for fascinating topics outside one’s particular discipline, encourages the discussion of a variety of demanding issues, and stimulates challenging debates, as well as delivering great food. At the end of the conversation, after attentive and rather envious questions, I departed for the post-lunch Keynote Address and asked what their conference was about. “Econometrics,” answered one with a laugh and agreed that it might be a nice idea to eavesdrop on one of our sessions if they became bored with their conference. The following overviews and reports on session, exhibitions and workshops express the enthusiasm and passion that our conference engendered. Editor: Carol Freeman (University of Tasmania) 3 Conference Overviews Three Days of Wonder From Colombina Schaeffer and Leonardo Valenzuela We will start with a confession: we had no previous knowledge or engagement with the field of Animal Studies. It was a blind spot indeed, considering that we are both trying to include nonhumans in our academic accounts. However, we felt that something was missing, a kind of sensibility became increasingly needed, either when trying to make sense of political mobilisation (for Colombina) or place-making (for Leonardo). So, with a bit of hesitance, but also curiosity, we decided to give it a try and send an abstract for this unusual event. To our surprise our abstracts were well received and we became part of the experience, regularly receiving Fiona’s stimulating updates. One month before the conference started we couldn’t wait, the program and related events looked promising. Finally, when the day arrived, everything exceeded our expectations – and it was not just the coffee cart and the amazing catering! We suddenly found ourselves struggling before every session trying to decide which panel to attend. The diversity and quality of panels, topics and presenters was overwhelming. At the same time, the attentiveness of organisers and colleagues, in conjunction with the amazing general vibe, made us feel welcomed, although we had never been in such an event before. The key was, in our opinion, a perfect blend of academic rigour, inter-intra-trans-cross-a- disciplinarily and open-mindedness, with a strong connection with the world above, below and beyond academia. We discovered (and rediscovered) a different kind of sensibility, one that is concerned with those that usually don’t figure prominently either in daily life or less in academic thinking. Those who, nevertheless, are crucial actors in the composition of our worlds. The ingenuity and unpretentiousness of this field and academic style have become valuable and crucial examples to incorporate in our own practice, as well as the commitment and engagement with real world issues and problems. The reach beyond academia included various social events, among them an ambassador from the future (courtesy of the American Wilderness Wax Museum), the Writers-In-Residence (and their blog), art exhibitions and activism. In addition, passionate informed exchanges spiced up the sessions, broadening our perspective regarding diverse and various issues. For instance, the plenary session with Professor Adrian Franklin, where he developed a challenging argument that didn’t leave anyone indifferent. The same day, in the afternoon, Associate Professor Claire Kim took the audience through an amazing journey, where she showed how she disentangled and engaged, in a situated and committed way, with the complexities of race, species and nature. Her presentation was amazing, an inspiration and model to follow. Finally, the plenary session led by Professor Paul McGreevy brought the insights of the veterinary sciences to the social sciences. We were amazed by his research, which combined rigour with simplicity and humbleness, making his talk very engaging. In the case of the papers presented in the parallel sessions, we list among our favourites: ‘Animal Agency in the “Wild”’, with the papers of Philipp Pahin, Michael Hathaway and Barbara Campbell. They didn’t only engage in novel research, but also experimented with new research methods