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Indeed! Thanks Devva! ____________________________________________________ Brenda A. LeFrançois, PhD Professor Editor - *Intersectionalities <http://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/IJ/index>* Memorial University of Newfoundland on academia.edu <https://mun.academia.edu/BrendaLeFran%C3%A7ois> Co-Editor of the following volumes: Mad Matters: A Critical Reader in Canadian Mad Studies <http://www.cspi.org/books/mad-matters> Psychiatry Disrupted: Theorizing Resistance and Crafting the (R)evolution <http://www.mqup.ca/psychiatry-disrupted-products-9780773543300.php> Psychiatrised Children and their Rights: Global Perspectives <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/chso.2014.28.issue-3/issuetoc> "It is difficult to get a man (sic) to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it". Upton Sinclair (quoted in Chrisjohn & McKay, 2017, 'Dying to Please You') On Fri, 15 Mar 2019 at 14:32, Fiona Kumari Campbell < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Devva, > As ever you are a brilliant wordsmith! > Dr Fiona A Kumari Campbell > > PhD QUT; BLegSt (Hons) La Trobe; AdvDipTheol Univ Div; JP (Qual) > Chair, Disabled Staff Network > School of Education & Social Work, University of Dundee, > Perth Road, Dundee, DD14HN. SCOTLAND, United Kingdom > > Twitter: http://twitter.com/f_k_campbell > Academia site: https://dundee.academia.edu/FionaKumariCampbell > > Adjunct Professor in Disability Studies, Department of Disability Studies, > Faculty of Medicine > University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* The Disability-Research Discussion List < > [log in to unmask]> on behalf of Devva Kasnitz < > [log in to unmask]> > *Sent:* Friday, March 15, 2019 6:17 pm > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Canadian Animal Law Conference > > > Dear Jodi and Camille, > > Thank you for you note. I appreciate that you responded with such a warm > and reasoned tone. I organize conferences for the Society for Disability > Studies as part of my job and I do understand your process. However, the > boundaries of a conference subject matter are pretty well set on the date > that abstracts are due in your Call for Papers--unless you don't do peer > review and/or if you reopen the Call for Papers, or make a lot of > invitations to presenters outside the proposal/peer review structure. From > your Call for Papers: > > “In particular, we invite presentations that reflect on lessons learned > in the last decade, and what the future of the field might hold. Subjects > might include, but are not limited to, legislative reform, litigation > strategies, law enforcement, policy, and education. We welcome a variety of > perspectives and formats, including traditional academic paper > presentations, panel discussion proposals on a particular issue, debates, > and shorter presentations on cases and other topics of interest. The focus > of the conference is on advancing the field of animal law in Canada, but > the goal is to do so through meaningful engagement with law, policy, and > scholarship happening across the globe, with a focus on North America and > Canada in particular.” > > There is nothing in this to indicate that you are aware of the controversy > that Singer brings with him, nor that it is something you will address. In > your outreach to 50,000 people for the CFPs it did not include either the > US Society for Disability Studies, nor our sister the Canadian Disability > Studies Association. To us this can only be interpreted as either you are > ignorant of the debate Singer brings with him, or that you left it to > others to bring it up. For us to have felt heard, we would have needed to > be included, at least minimally in that 50,000 people. “Nothing about us > without us,” is a pretty firm ethic. Where is the note to the disability > community that explains your goals and encourages us to come and present? I > appreciate that you can't say who your second invited speaker is until they > are confirmed, but you didn’t see a need to do that to balance Singer > BEFORE the Call for Papers went out, or even reach out to us now after > realizing the mess into which you have stepped from Tanya’s first email. > > I prefer to think of you as naive about Singer’s work on disability, than > cognizant of it. But then I must assume a narrowness to your scholarship > that I would find insulting were it applied to me. Your note below, like > your earlier one, neither encourages us to submit abstracts by the 18th, > nor does it extend your deadline in recognition that the disability > community has both a lot to say about Singer and a lot to say about the > intersection of animal, plant, and environment. For example, there is a > whole group of scholars working in the area of geography and disability, > but we saw none of your 50,000 Call for Papers in the “Geoable” list. Where > is your “Woops, we are so sorry you didn't find out about this until the > last moment. Please do submit and let us know if you need more time?” Or, > “Who would you suggest we reach out to, to bridge this gap?” Be aware that > almost no one I know can afford to go to a conference unless they present. > That decision window closes in 3 days. > > I hate to make dramatic comparisons, but it’s kind of like having a > conference on neo-Nazism and not sending the CFPs to any holocaust > scholars, or a conference about Israel without reaching out to Palestinian > scholars. Your assurance that some sessions will cover intersectionality is > interesting. None of the 2,000 disability studies scholars in on this > correspondence have indicated they are submitting abstracts. Some of us are > debating it with ourselves—I love Nova Scotia in October being from > Massachusetts, but it would be an expensive trip to be where I know I would > be on hyper alert status. > > Peter Singer is not afraid of controversy, he thrives on it. You have put > yourselves in the unenviable position of needing to defend your choice > perhaps, in fact, derailing your purpose of a focus on non-humans in the > process. The entire phenomenon of animal domestication, for example, > creates species that can't even breed without human intervention. Critical > disability studies theory goes there. How do we both respond ethically to > current disability in ALL animals at the same time that we work to promote > the future health and free choice of all living things? > > > > Sincerely. > > Devva > > > > *Devva Kasnitz, PhD* > > Spring 2018 -- Kate Welling Distinguished Scholar in Disability Studies, > Miami University, Oxford, OH > > Adj Professor, City University of New York—School of Professional > Studies—Disability Studies > > Executive Director, Society for Disability Studies, PO BOX 5570, Eureka CA > 95502 > > > > *From:* Animal Law Conference <[log in to unmask]> > *Sent:* Friday, March 15, 2019 7:28 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Reply to earlier emails > > > > Dear Dr. Kasnitz, Dr. Titchkosky and colleagues, > > > > Thank you for your correspondence. As requested, we are pleased to provide > you with some further information and to respond to some of your concerns > about the upcoming animal law conference. > > > > First, it is true that our website does not include the names of the > conference organizers. This is not an effort to remain anonymous. Rather, > it is just a reflection of the fact that the website is a work in progress, > and the conference is still in the early stages of planning, being nearly > seven months away. More information will be added to the website as the > agenda and organizing advance. > > > > Second, you noted that a reply sent to Dr. Titchkosky included no personal > names. We apologize if this was perceived as an effort to remain anonymous. > The letter was signed in relation to our collective role as the > co-organizers of the conference rather than by name. > > > > Third, regarding accessibility, the conference will take place at the > Schulich School of Law and we can confirm that the is building is > accessible. This fact was not included on the website as we assumed, > obviously in error, that it would be understood that the venue – a > university campus – is accessible. This information, and many other further > details, will be added to the website as we move forward. > > > > Fourth, with respect to the “Call for Proposals,” this was circulated by > email, through Animal Justice’s mailing list comprising of nearly 50,000 > individuals, and on various social media platforms, with a combined reach > of more than 50,000 people. It was our hope that the call would then be > shared and reach an even wider audience. It has also been provided directly > to the intended audience of potential conference presenters—academics, > lawyers, animal advocates, law students, and other interested members of > the public—through multiple channels. Given the focus of the conference, > this seemed a reasonable distribution strategy. Further details will be > included on Animal Justice’s website once we move toward opening > registration. > > > > Fifth, we regret that you found our previous reply to be dismissive, which > was not our intention. Rather, we wanted to respond to your request that we > explain our motivation for asking Peter Singer to open our conference — > that is, his inextricable connection with the history of the animal rights > movement, which is the first half of the conference theme, “Learning from > the past, looking to the future.” > > > > Sixth, we acknowledge the concerns that have been raised about having > Peter Singer give a plenary address at the conference. Please know that we > are seeking meaningful ways to be responsive to those concerns. We have > reached out to a leading scholar, working at the intersection of animal > rights and disability justice, in the hopes that they will deliver a > plenary address (which, like Peter Singer’s but unlike the other sessions, > would be open to the public). Our belief is that this speaker will anchor > the discussions within the second half of the conference theme. Our program > is still in development, and we are making it our priority to respond to > the concerns, and to demonstrate our understanding that the future of > animal rights, and animal law, must include building bridges between social > justice movements, which must work together for a better future. We thus > particularly appreciate you highlighting, in your email, some of the > overlapping ways that different communities are oppressed by the same > structures. The rest of the conference programming is still in the early > stages of development, but we anticipate that several sessions will address > themes of intersectionality and overlapping oppressions as this is an issue > of strong interest to us, and the animal law community more broadly. > > > > Again, we regret the ill-feelings caused through the choice of one of the > conference plenary speakers. We are working hard to address the concerns > raised and to ensure that everyone feels heard, welcome, and respected at > our conference. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Jodi Lazare, Assistant Professor, Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie > University > > Camille Labchuk, Executive Director, Animal Justice > > > ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research > Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the > University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about > list administration should be sent to > [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located > at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, > JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. > ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research > Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the > University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about > list administration should be sent to > [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located > at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, > JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). 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