Subverting the Status Quo

Session Submission Type: Invited Session (90 minute)

Description

Unlike other interdisciplines throughout academia, the oppressions and injustices addressed in Animal Studies are considered a cultural norm by our peers, students, and supervisors. Navigating the critical nature of this field within the context of academia and advocacy comes with distinct challenges. In an increasingly contentious political context, how do we conduct research, teach and act on issues considered radical or extreme? How might skills, such as boundary crossing and radical listening, facilitate our position within broader institutions? What strategies exist for addressing and flourishing among the friction that may occur with openly criticizing norms? This panel invites scholars who have experience with subverting the status quo in the field of Animal Studies to share their research, lived experiences, and advice.

Sub Unit

• Animals and Society Section / Subverting the Status Quo

Presider

• Miranda Kay Workman, ASPCA

Individual Presentations

• Building activist social networks out of 'necessity' - Nolwenn Veillard, Université de Rennes

• Disentangling human-animal-environment entanglements: researching cross-species relationships - Miranda Kay Workman, ASPCA

• So You Want to Research Animals and Society? Navigating Structural Barriers and Disciplinary Bias - Loredana Loy, University of Miami

• Interspecies Violence and Prospects for Total Liberation - Mark Suchyta, Butler University

• Life as an Animal Studies Professor: Staying Grounded and Remaining Committed Despite Ongoing Challenges - Erin N. Kidder, Eckerd College

Session Organizer

• Seven Mattes, Michigan State University