Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to the Animals & Society Institute's Human-Animal Studies Report. 

Although it doesn’t feel like it should be so, summer—here in the Northern Hemisphere anyway—is more than halfway over. I hope your projects, whatever they are, are going well.

If you are looking for a little diversion or inspiration, you should be able to find something in this month’s Human-Animal Studies Report. From HAS funding and opportunities, to podcasts and webinars, to a wealth of diverse article and book chapters, you’ll find something to enjoy or inspire this month.

A quick note to say that the HAS Report will be on short hiatus until September while we at ASI wrap up a few exciting projects we will soon unveil.

Have a great next month!

Best,

Gala

Editor’s note: The HAS e-newsletter is organized as follows: Jobs, grants, and calls are ordered chronologically by deadline dates, with the earliest first, and will continue to be posted until the deadlines expire. Books and articles include, where possible, links to access them directly from this email. Because publication reference styles vary by source, they might not always be consistent or pretty, but they will get you there. To read more about the topics discussed, click the bold hyperlinks for source material and additional information. 

Please send your comments, suggestions, and submissions to: [email protected], and if possible include a URL link to your project or announcement.



ASI Board President Kenneth Shapiro’s book, The Assessment and Treatment of Children Who Abuse Animals: The AniCare Child Approach, is on sale now through Springer with 50% off. Designed for mental health practitioners, the book offers step-by-step guidance on how to assess and treat children who commit animal abuse, taking into consideration cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, and attachment theories. The book—an ideal guide for therapists in social work, psychology, psychiatry, and allied fields—is available as a hard copy or digitally, and includes accompanying electronic supplementary material demonstrating role-played assessment and treatment.

ASI Board Member Tom Aiello has a recent article in the Animal Studies Journal, Nothing More than ‘Anti-Cull Activists’: Accusations of Bias and the Politics of Research that Advocates for Non-Human Animals. Co-authored with Jes Hooper, Kristine Hill, Michelle Szydlowski, and Sarah Oxley Heaney, the article explores the ethical quandary faced by researchers whose work advocates for non-human animals and whose results conflict with prevalent anthropocentric societal narratives, highlighting the pitfalls of research that advocates for animals while revealing the actual issues of bias that warrant further attention by the academic community.

We have just received the 12-month analysis for the ASI-managed Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science and are excited to present that the 144,000 downloads from the last 12 months represent a 25% increase in total downloads from the previous year. We are also pleased that the 2022 Special Issue edited by ASI Human-Animal Studies Program Director, Gala Argent, “Human-Animal Relationships and Welfare in the Anthropocene: Pandemics, Climate Change, and Other Disasters” has had just under 10,000 downloads. The issue’s seven articles were ranked 2nd-8th highest in downloads for the last 12 months. Check them out.

A significant new article from the ASI-managed Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Belief in Animal Sentience and Affective Owner Attitudes are linked to Positive Working Equid Welfare across Six Countries, by Emily Haddy, Faith Burden, Zoe Raw, et al., is available Open Access. The study is the first to show a link between the welfare of working equids—including donkeys, horses, and mules—and the attitudes and beliefs of their owners, in different countries and contexts around the world. The researchers found that “[O]wners displayed two main attitudes toward their working equids. At one end of a scale were owners who talked about their equid purely as a working tool (instrumental) and at the other end were those who described a strong emotional connection to their animals (affective)…. [B]etter equid health status was seen in equids whose owners believed in equid emotions compared to those who did not.” This cross-cultural study highlights the importance of acknowledging all nonhuman animal minds without the fear of anthropomorphism, and in the benefits of human understandings that move beyond the mechanistic application of behaviorism in “training.” Moreover, although Global North countries were not included, there are also significant implications for horses—and other nonhuman animals—used in EuroAmerican context for sport, recreation, tourism, and therapies, where “instrumentalization” often occurs.

This month, the National Link Coalition’s July Link-Letter concerning animal cruelty’s intersections with child, elder and domestic abuse brings you news about the State of Delaware's enactment of three comprehensive laws to protect animals, children, and domestic violence survivors; Minnesota veterinarians are being reminded of their responsibilities to protect animals and the public from harm; a major Link conference returned to Portugal; and more. 

Among the items in the July Link-Letter is a write-up on Canadian researcher Kendra Coulter’s new book, Defending Animals: Finding Hope on the Front Lines of Animal Protection. “Focusing on her earlier studies into improving the safety and working conditions of frontline animal care and control officers, she calls for transforming this work into ‘humane jobs’ that respect and protect the people as well as animals involved in emotionally wrenching work that often involves ‘real-life horror shows.’ Coulter conducted ethnographic interviews with animal cruelty first responders from several nations and Indigenous communities in addressing such Link issues as pets in shelters for the homeless, animal fighting, veterinary forensics, and how prosecutors are recognizing animal cruelty cases with increased intensity.”

Marc Bekoff’s recent blog post in Psychology Today, ‘Animals Are Not “Things”: Happy the Elephant and Personhood’ in conversation with cartoonist, Sam Machado, discusses the recently released illustrated book, Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood, that aims to recognize nonhumans as persons.

Vegan sociologist Corey Wrenn’s talk on their forthcoming book "Vegan Witchcraft" with The Animal Rights Show on July 3 is now available to stream. Also check out the Powerpoint slides for Corey’s talk on classic sociology for the "Teaching Vegan Sociology" panel held at the Animal Advocacy Conference at the University of Kent on June 22.

In this article, Teya Brooks Pribac is in conversation with Carol Gigliotti, author of The Creative Lives of Animals. 

This section includes both upcoming live events, and past events that were recorded.

The Human-Animal Interaction division of the American Psychological Association is hosting afree webinar, “The role of attachment in children’s relationships with pets: From pet care to animal harm” presented by Laura Wauthier. The webinar will begin with a discussion of attachment theory, how it applies to human relationships, and how it might be extended to describe relationships with animals. Following this overview of theory, we will turn to the results of the paper and explore how psychologists can use this to understand some of the potential mechanisms involved in therapeutic or intervention settings, with examples from an intervention program for childhood animal harm in Scotland, Animal Guardians. 1.5 CE units are available. The webinar will take place July 19, 10:00-11:30 US Mountain Time Register here.

The State Animal Welfare Commissioner of Berlin will host a two hour Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBC) workshop as a practical guide to more resilience in animal welfare work on July 24, 2023 at 1pm ET.

In the 3Rs Webinar on Monday, July 31, 2023 at 1pm NY/ 6pm London/ 7pm Berlin, Pandora Pound will discuss her forthcoming book Rat Trap: The Capture of Medicine by Animal Research—and how to Break Free.

A virtual presentation by Carol Blakney and Able Alves at the International Big History Association conference is now available. “The Biohistory of Feminism” is a 40-minute introduction to a book-length manuscript the two are finishing. It argues that behaviors we associate with feminism are found across human cultures and in other species as well. 

This overview of the Animal Welfare Act, the primary federal U.S. animal protection statute, provides a history of the law, discusses which animals it does—and does not—cover, explains how the law is implemented, critiques enforcement, addresses the importance of transparency, and proposes recommendations aimed at fulfilling the mandate that Congress put in place more than a half century ago: ensuring the humane care and treatment of animals.

In this interview with Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully author, Josh Miburn, questions vegan food systems, food injustices, and negative outcomes for animals. 

Episode 96 of Always for Animal Rights interviews Laura Schleifer about total liberation, post-scarcity veganarchism, and why human rights are relevant to veganism.

This episode of Knowing Animals remembers the life and work of Siobhan O’Sullivan, who founded Knowing Animals in 2015, and died in 2023. 

In Episode 218 of Knowing Animals, Dr. Stacy Banwell discusses her 2023 Palgrave Macmillan monograph The War Against Nonhuman Animals: A Non-Speciesist Understanding of Gendered Reproductive Violence.

The Centre for Human-Animal Studies (CfHAS) at Edge Hill University, UK, have created a YouTube channel for videos of Seminar Series events, Postgraduate Symposiums, and more. 

Following are some recent books published of interest to the field of Human-Animal Studies.

Núria Almiron (Ed.) (2023). Animal Suffering and Public RelationsThe Ethics of Persuasion in the Animal-Industrial Complex. Routledge.

Matthew Calarco (2023). Reflections on Roadkill between Mobility Studies and Animal Studies: Altermobilities. Palgrave Macmillan 

Coulter, K. (2023). Defending Animals: Finding Hope on the Front Lines of Animal Protection.MIT Press.

Latva, O. 2024. The Giant Squid in Transatlantic Culture: The Monsterization of Molluscs. (1st ed). Routledge. 

Olena Mykhailenko (2023). Anthropocentrism as a Methodological Principle in Science Translation Research. Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. (Russian)

Quesne, A. 2023. What right(s) for animals? Mare & Martin.

Robert J. Wallis (2023). The Art and Archaeology of Human Engagements with Birds of Prey: From Prehistory to the Present. Bloomsbury.

Robert L. Zimdahl, (Ed.) (2023). Key Issues in Agricultural Ethics. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing.

Following are some recent articles and book chapters of interest to the field of Human-Animal Studies.

The latest issue of the Animal Studies Journal, 12(1), is out.

Aquatic Animals Report. 2023. Center for Environmental and Animal Protection. 

Animal Markets and Zoonotic Disease in the United States. Harvard Law School and Center for Environmental and Animal Protection.

Paula Arcari (2023). Slow violence against animals: Unseen spectacles in racing and at zoos, Geoforum, 144. 

Joan M. Bundy (2023), Pet Custody Disputes: What Happens to Fido or Fluffy When Their Humans' Relationship Goes South? TortSource, 25(8). 

Campbell, A. M., Thompson, S. L., Harris, T. L., & Wiehe, S. E. (2021). Intimate Partner Violence and Pet Abuse: Responding Law Enforcement Officers’ Observations and Victim Reports From the Scene. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(5–6), 2353–2372. 

R. Carreras, M., & Fernández, L. (Accepted/In press). Critical Animal Media Studies: Challenging the hegemonic representations of oppressed groups through communication research. In CAS anthology Ten years of Critical Animal Studies at Lund University [Preliminary name]. Lund University Library.

Coetser, Yolandi M. 2023. Exploring the Legality of Artists’ Use of Animals: Ethical Considerations and Legal Implications. Arts 12(4): 155. 

Raisa Abreu Bragança Colocho, Anna Cecília Trolesi Reis Borges Costa, Blenda Araujo Martins Ferreira, et al. (2023). Clinical-epidemiological profile of the canine population in a shelter, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2019-2020. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science.

MH Eriksen, C Ratican  (2023). Multispecies Vikings: Animals, people, and cyborgs in the Late Iron and Viking Ages. In: Alison Klevn & Cecilia Ljung (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Death and Burial in the Viking Age. Routledge.

Natasha Fijn, Catie Gressier & Muhammad A. Kavesh (2023). Anthropology of Mutualism. Anthropology Today, 39(1).

Amy Fitzgerald and Nik Taylor (2023). Gender and nonhuman animals. In: Michael Long, Michael J. Lynch & Paul B. Stretesky (Eds.) Handbook on Inequality and the Environment. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Jeremy Gordon (2023). Animal Rhetorics. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication.

Emily Haddy, Faith Burden, Zoe Raw, João B. Rodrigues, Jaime Humberto Zappi Bello, Julia Brown, Juliane Kaminski & Leanne Proops (2023). Belief in Animal Sentience and Affective Owner Attitudes are linked to Positive Working Equid Welfare across Six Countries, Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science.

Hooper, Jes; Aiello, Thomas; Hill, Kristine; Szydlowski, Michelle; and Oxley Heaney, Sarah. Nothing More than ‘Anti-Cull Activists’: Accusations of Bias and the Politics of Research that Advocates for Non-Human Animals, Animal Studies Journal, 12(1), 2023, 70-95.

Chloé Mondémé (2023). Sequence organization in human–animal interaction. An exploration of two canonical sequences. Journal of Pragmatics, 214, pp. 73-88.

Mota-Rojas, D., Strappini, A., Whittaker, A.L., Ghezzi, M., & Titto, C.G., et al. (2023). Controversial topics in animal welfare in Latin America: A focus on the legislation surrounding the human-companion animal relationship and animals used for recreational practices. Animals, 13, 1463. 

Piotrowska, M. (2023). Diversity and inclusion for rodents: how animal ethics committees can help improve translation. Journal of Medical Ethics.  

Julia Poerting (2023). Infrastructure as biopolitics: Fencing, categorizing and valuing animals for wolf conservation in Germany. Political Geography, 105.

Casey R. Schmidt (2023). Anthropomorphism, anthropocentrism, and human-orientation in environmental discourse. Journal of Language and Politics.

Taylor, N., & Sutton, Z. (2018). For an Emancipatory Animal Sociology. Journal of Sociology, 54(4), 467–487. 

Taylor, N., Sutton, Z., & Wilkie, R. (2018). A sociology of multi-species relations. Journal of Sociology, 54(4), 463–466. 

Wrenn, Corey (2023). Nonhuman Animal Rights. In: Michael Long, Michael Lynch, and Paul Stretesky (Eds), Handbook on Inequality and the Environment. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

The Special Issue (SI) of World Leisure Journal, edited by Paul Tully, Neil Carr, Kate Dashper and Carol Kline, calls for papers on the topic of Unstructured Entanglements of Human Leisure and Non-Human Animal Life. Abstracts should include the title, authorship, author affiliation(s) and contact information and can be submitted to [email protected] by July 31, 2023. 

The journal Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work has a call out for contributions to a Special Issue on Animals and Social Work, with the major these of animals and social work across the animal welfare-animal rights spectrum. The deadline for abstracts is August 1, 2023.

A call for proposals is out to contribute to Urban Animalia: Toward a Multispecies Metropolis, a volume of essays on the forms of animal life that take hold in cities, and how we might engage in probiotic urban practices in order to enhance such life. The volume will explore how urban residents from varied species relate to the landscape and each other, and how human understandings of such entanglements might make us better companions to our co-inhabitants through policy, planning, design, and other practices. Deadline August 31, 2023.

A call is out for a Special Issue of Science Fiction Film and Television, “Screening Speculative Animals.” The issue will explore the interface of nonhuman animals, speculation, and audiovisual media. Within the realm of sf audiovisual media, other animals assume diverse roles and functions, embodying themes such as bioengineering, posthumanism, or ecological concerns. However, other animal figures do not merely enrich the narrative landscapes, but further invite critical reflections on the nature of interspecies relationships and the ethical dimensions of human-animal interactions. Thus, we are seeking to uncover the speculative and imaginative potentialities of sf film, television, and video games to deepen, challenge, and redefine more-than-human worlds, and transcend anthropocentric ways of seeing and, more importantly, of looking. Guest editors: Paweł Frelik ([email protected]) and Anna Maria Grzybowska ([email protected]). 300-word abstracts are due October 2, 2023; please email both editors.

The Journal of Aging Studies calls for papers for the Special Issue, The Growing Older of Humans, Non-Humans, and More-than-Humans. This special issue is aimed at broadening the study of aging by addressing three main points. First, aging is almost exclusively associated with humans. Second, human beings become older with multiple others, like objects, technologies, animals, plants, digital data, etc. Third, humans and more-than-humans become-older-together with infrastructures they intra-act with. Applications are open until December 15, 2023.

As you can see, ASI is promoting a tremendous amount of activity in the field of Human-Animal Studies. We always invite your input and participation.

Your donation to the Animals & Society Institute will enable us to continue to expand the field in many more ways and work in conjunction with others around the world who share these goals. 

Thank you for supporting ASI's Human-Animal Studies efforts!