Hope this is of interest to some list members:
The deadline for registration for the Zoo-ethnographies Symposium (see below) is fast approaching. If you are interested in participating please register through our website:
http://www.genna.gender.uu.se/themes/animals/events/zooethnographies/
Zoo-ethnographies
Uppsala University, Sweden
17th-18th October 2011
The presence of animals in human lives is vast and diverse; from a philosopher’s cat to the animals caught up in intensive systems of production and consumption. From the pigs and rodents that are sacrificed so that humans may extend their lives to the microscopic animals we as humans brush up against on a daily basis. Equally, animals are present in a range of spaces from the laboratory to the street, on farms and in literature, schools, homes and workplaces. Further the category of animal is itself diverse, fluid, and dynamic: animals move and move us often defying human categorisation, borders and control. This unruliness, coupled with the range of spaces, species and modes of encounter, emphasise the disparate implications for different species in different spaces as lines of mobility and oppression intersect.
Thus humanimal encounters are simultaneously creative and political as we (humans, academics, activists, companion species) open ourselves to the lively presences which make and disrupt our more-than-human social worlds and explore the politics and powers which infuse and define interactions. This diversity, fluidity, and creativity raises significant questions regarding how we approach the questions animals raise, what methods we employ to engage these issues, and how we write in a zoo-sensitive manner.
The anthropocentrism of existing methods and approaches fits uncomfortably with the contemporary questions of animal studies. Issues of scientific rigor, representativeness, anthropomorphism, relevance, objectivity and ethical concerns emerge as Animal Studies pursues this necessary critical development. Humanimal encounters demand ethnographies of animals, humans, cultures and disciplines. Consequentially a Zoo-ethnographies approach calls us to examine the methods and methodologies implemented in our zoo-sensitive enquiries, to critique methodological orthodoxies and use the existing approaches and methods creatively.
This pre-conference therefore brings together a range of speakers from a variety of disciplines to examine the challenges and possibilities of methods which work with animal presence.
Last day to register: October 12th
A Minding Animals Pre-conference event
hosted by the HumAnimal group, Uppsala University
Confirmed Speakers
Steve Hinchliffe
(University of Exeter)
Eva Hayward
(Duke University)
Lynda Birke
(University of Chester)
Pär Segerdahl
(Uppsala University)
Morten Tønnessen
(University of Tartu)
___________________________
Jacob Bull
Forskare
Centrum för Genusvetenskap
Box 634
751 26
Uppsala
Sverige
+46 (0)18-471 57 98
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