Our two latest videos as part of Season 2 of ASI’s Defining Human-Animal Studies video series have been released. First, Kenneth Shapiro defines kinesthetic empathy. Ken is cofounder and President of the board of the Animals & Society Institute. He is founding editor of  Society & Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies , coeditor and cofounder of  Journal for Applied Animal Welfare Science  and the editor of the Human-Animal Studies book series. His most recent book is  The Assessment and Treatment of Children who Abuse Animals: The AniCare® Approach .

The second video highlights Dr. Vasile Stanescu, Assistant Professor & Director, Program in Speech and Debate, Department of Communication Studies & Theatre, Mercer University, discussed the term Critical Animal Studies. Vasile Stanescu is Assistant Professor of Communication at Mercer University; he also serves as faculty in department of Women’s and Gender Studies. He received his Ph.D. in the program of Modern Thought and Literature (MTL) at Stanford University.

His current research interests include Critical Animal Studies, food studies, decolonialism, eco-criticism and environmental rhetoric. Stanescu is co-senior editor of the Critical Animal Studies book series published by Rodopi/Brill, the former co-editor of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies , and former co-organizer of the Stanford Humanities Project. Stanescu is the author of over 20 peer-reviewed publications on critical animal studies in journals such as the American Behavioral Scientist , Liberazioni – Rivista di critica antispecist a [Liberations-Anti-Specieist Criticisms], Journal fürkritische Tierstudien [The German Journal for Critical Animal Studies], The Journal of American Culture , Animal Studies Journal , and the Journal for Critical Animal Studies . Stanescu’s research has been recognized by The Woods Institute for the Environment, Minding Animals International, The Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Culture and Animals Foundation, and the Institutul Cultural Român, [Institute for Romanian Culture] among others. Stanescu has been vegan for 20 years.


If you haven't seen Season 1, you can catch up by clicking here.