Presentation at the Conference on Animal Rights in Europe (http://careconf.eu)

1. Animal Studies:
how to bring activism
into academia
Tereza Vandrovcová

2. Overview
 Very brief introduction to Animal Studies
 Why is it important
 How to bring it into academia
 How to keep it alive

3. Animal Studies
(Human-Animal Studies, Anthrozoology)
 Relationships between humans and animals (real or symbolic)
 Informed by natural science
 Better understanding
 Multidisciplinary approach

4.  Nature (real physical identity) vs. Culture (human
categories)
 How we classify them shapes how we see and treat them
(and vice versa)
 Just world phenomenon, Blaming the victim
Social Construction of Animals

5. Parallel to Animal Protection/Rights
Movement
 Similar to the development of Women's studies or
African-American studies
 Feminism, Civil Rights
 Moral philosophy:
 Peter Singer: Animal Liberation (1975)
 Tom Regan: The Case for Animal Rights (1983)

6. Critical Animal Studies
 Not only description but also critical analysis
 Goal: eliminate the domination and opression of animals and to
transform higher education into a more inclusive environment
for considering all species.
 Advocating for the dismantling of the animal-industrial
complex, and for veganism.

7. Why is it important for AR movement
 Education of the new generation of academics
 Communication of these ideas on the different level
(influencing state institutions, other academics, politics etc.)
 Media coverage of animal related topic (influencing public
opinion)

8. How to bring it into academia
and keep it alive
1. As a student or an academic write papers and thesis about
animal related topics
2. Join academic networks of Animal Studies
3. Organize a conference (student, national, itnernational)
4. Start a website/blog/fb page
5. Teach a course about Animal Studies and be a thesis supervisor
6. Publish – Animal Studies introduction articles, books, popular
articles in media etc…

9. Write student papers, thesis etc.
 Use online Animal Studies bibliographies
 For example: Animal Studies Bibliography
http://www.animalstudies.msu.edu/bibliography.php
 Ask academics from abroad for help
 Share your work with fellow students

10. Join academic networks of Animal
Studies
 HAS Listserv (yahoo group)
 http://www.animalsandsociety.org/human-animal-studies/has-listserv/
 EACAS: European Association for Critical Animal Studies
 Facebook group, website
 http://eacas.eu
 Human-Animal Studies (Facebook group)
 Institute for Critical Animal Studies
 Facebook group, website
 www.criticalanimalstudies.org

11. List of organizations
 European Association for Critical Animal Studies (EACAS)
http://www.eacas.eu
 Minding Animals
https://mindinganimals.com
 The Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS)
http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org
 Centre for Human Animal Studies (CfHAS)
https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/cfhas/
 Animals & Society Institute
http://www.animalsandsociety.org
 ISAZ (International Society for Anthrozoology)
http://www.isaz.net

12. Organize a conference
(student, national, international)
 Become a member of EACAS.eu
and organize the bi-annual konference of Critical Animal
Studies

13. Start a website/blog/fb page
in your language
 Why:
 networking
 sharing ideas and sources
 informing new students
 Content
 Brief introduction
 Links to organizations, books and the other useful info
 Student and adacemic papers
 Info about upcoming conferences

14. Teach a course about Animal Studies
and be a thesis supervisor
 Support of new students interested in this field
 Spreading Animal Rights message among students
 Discussions, projects, reading papers…
 Establishing Animal Studies at your university
 Use the pedagogic books of Margo de Mello

15. Books
 Margo DeMello. Animals and
Society: An Introduction to
Human-Animal Studies
(whole lectures and sources)
 Margo DeMello (Ed.).
Teaching the Animal:
Human-Animal Studies
across the Disciplines
(syllabi, critical essays and
other course materials)

16. Books
 Nik Taylor and Richard Twine.
The Rise of Critical Animal
Studies: from the margins to
the centre
 Anthony J. Nocella II et al.
(eds). Defining Critical
Animal Studies

17. Books
 Aubrey Manning and James
Serpell (eds.) Animals and
Human Society: Changing
Perspectives
 Adrian Franklin. Animals and
Modern Cultures:
A Sociology of Human-
Animal Relations in
Modernity

18. Publish
 Animal Studies introduction articles and books in your language
 Popular papers (news, personal blogs, animal rights website…)
 Get ready for the media atention 
 International Journals and conferences

19. Journals
 Anthrozoös (1987)
http://www.isaz.net/anthrozoos.html
 Society & Animals Journal (1993)
http://www.animalsandsociety.org/human-animal-
studies/society-and-animals-journal
 Journal for Critical Animal Studies (2003)
http://journalforcriticalanimalstudies.org/
 Humanimalia (2009)
http://www.depauw.edu/site/humanimalia/

20. Thank you for you attention
tereza@vandrovcova.cz
Humanimal.cz, EACAS.eu