Theme: Some we love, some we hate, some we eat, some we need.

Co-organizers: Robert W. Mitchell, Radhika Makecha, and Michał Pręgowski.

“Living with Animals 4” is an Animal Studies conference about all things animal and human-animal interaction, occurring at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). EKU, located in Richmond, Kentucky, just south of Lexington, “The Horse Capital of the World,” began offering the first undergraduate degree in Animal Studies in 2010. We offer a Living with Animals conference every two years, and are pleased again to have an international set of speakers.

The conference is now over three days, March 21-23, 2019.

On Sunday, March 24, the day after the conference, we are hoping to have an optional day-long excursion to Salato Wildlife Center, and then to Buffalo Trace Distillery, both in Frankfort, Kentucky, but this is still in the planning stages.

The conference will be held in the Perkins Building at EKU.

PROSPECTUS:

The conference centers on our ever-present relationships with animals examined through the arts and humanities, sciences, and applied fields. Consistent with the conference theme, our focus this time around is our diverse relationships with animals.  The theme derives from Hal Herzog’s well-known and influential book, Some we love, some we hate, some we eat: Why it’s so hard to think straight about animals. We hope presenters will find the relevance of their topic to the theme, but of course any topic related to animals or human-animal interaction is welcome.

The special day-long session,“Living with Horses”, a continuing conference in the Living with Animals conference, is co-organized by Gala Argent and Angela Hofstetter.

We are also hoping to attract presenters on the theme of “Living with Insects,” to draw attention to the precarious nature of so many insects in the world today.

We have 4 keynotes:

• Hal Herzog is professor of Psychology at Western Carolina University. To find out more about him, see:http://halherzog.com/about/.
• Marcy Norton is associate professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Her talk will focus on horse-human interactions in Western Europe and indigenous America between 1500-1800. To find out more about her, see: https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/marcy-norton/.
• Seth Magle is the Director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The provisional title of his talk is “Building a global network for urban wildlife research.” To find out more about him, see: https://www.lpzoo.org/staff/seth-magle-phd.
• Clare Rittschof is assistant professor of Entomology at the University Kentucky in Lexington. The provisional title of her talk is “The interwoven social lives of humans and honey bees.” To find out more about her, see: https://clarerittschof.com.

Email contact: livingwithanimals@eku.edu

ABSTRACTS:

Abstracts of 200 to (approximately) 400 words should be sent to livingwithanimals@eku.edu. The first line of the abstract should be the title of the talk, and the next line(s) should be the authors’ names, positions, affiliations, and email addresses. Following this should be a blank line, followed by the text of the abstract. All should be single spaced. Reference to existing bodies of work might be made.

Please also indicate if you would like your presentation to be a talkor a poster, or if you are offering a panel.  (We are open to other forms of presentations.) Posters are an excellent way to present some scientific and artistic works, and allow the presenter to engage closely with conference attendees who are most interested by their work. Posters will be available during the buffet lunch on Saturday, 23 March.

In addition, provide a one-page CV of your most relevant work and experience.

Individual paper presentation time will be 20 minutes, including time for questions. Panels (usually 3 people; maximum time, 1 hour) are welcome. All presentations and panels will be reviewed by the organizers.

TIMETABLE:

Abstract submission deadline: December 10, 2018

(Abstracts received after this date will be reviewed and, if accepted, put in the program if space allows.)

Author notification: around December 22, 2018

Conference begins: March 21, 2019

Conference ends: March 23, 2019

Optional excursion: March 24, 2019

We recommend that participants arrive on March 20, and depart no earlier than the evening of March 23, to enjoy the conference fully.

CONFERENCE WEBPAGE: The conference website is http://livingwithanimals.eku.edu. The website contains information about registration, hotels, excursions, dinners, food issues, and more information about the keynote speakers.

CONFERENCE LOCATION: Eastern Kentucky University is located in historic Richmond, Kentucky, including many areas of historic and scenic interest. Fort Boonesborough State Park, birthplace of Kentucky, is located 12 miles to the north, and Civil War and many other historical sites are nearby. The university is located just south of Kentucky’s famed Bluegrass Region, internationally recognized for its horse culture. See http://www.eku.edu/about for more information.