Re-presenting animals: In conversation with Debra Merskin
Debra Merskin is professor of media studies in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon, US. Her research focuses on how the media and popular press represent nonhuman animals, resulting in species stereotypes, and how these portrayals affect the lived experiences of real animals. Sheep, for instance. Let’s start with sheep, […]
Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group, 26 August 2019
The August session, ‘Writing with Animals’, was a fascinating mix of theory and application. We began with a work by Linda Vance, that appeared in Carol J Adams and Josephine Donovan’s collection of essays in the then emergent field of animal studies in 1995. This essay still offers a ‘very current’ perspective (Laird). Apart from […]
Inside the Grass Library
Inside the Grass Library David Brooks with Christine Townend, Blue Mountains Writers Festival, August 2019 David Brooks’s new book, The Grass Library (Brandl & Schlesinger) was released in early August 2019. The publishers describe the book as ‘a philosophical and poetic journey that recounts the author’s relationship with his four sheep and other animals in […]
Report on the Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group in July 2019
Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group, 29 July 2019 The Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group had a break over June then returned, in July, to read two significant works that are recognised as forming a famous debate: ‘We are all meat?’. The first article, written by renowned ecofeminist, Val Plumwood in 2000, discussed meat consumption, with […]
Report on the Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group in May 2019
Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group, 27 May 2019 In May, the Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group read Marti Kheel’s analysis of the psychological, ethical and spiritual dimensions that are culturally associated with hunting, sparking a far-reaching conversation (1996). Our discussion was given resonant depth by the visceral story-telling of Laura Jean McKay (2016). We began […]
Report on the Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group in April 2019
Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group, 29 April 2019 The Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group recently engaged with Carol Adams’ work with the animal industrial complex, a term coined by Barbara Noske and elaborated upon by Richard Twine. There has been considerable work to apply Marxist approaches to animal studies, since the work of Noske, and […]
Book Review
Yunker, John (ed). 2018. Writing for Animals: New Perspectives for Writers and Instructors to Educate and Inspire. Ashland, Oregon: Ashland Creek Press. Review by Emma Hardy April 2019 Two years ago, I went out to the Great Barrier Reef with a group of citizen scientists to survey the impact coral bleaching and cyclone Debbie. Before […]
Report on the Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group in March 2019
The Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group continued our exploration of early animal studies scholarship, curated by lynn mowson, with Lori Gruen’s work on “Dismantling Oppression” (1993). Broadening the focus from ‘single issues’ is, Gruen argues, the only way to avoid reproducing systemic oppression (60). We agreed the momentum for more intersectional approaches is ongoing and […]
Report on the Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group in February 2019
The Melbourne Knowing Animals Reading Group is spending 2019 with foundational thinking that focuses on multispecies justice. We began the year with Cora Diamond’s seminal paper “Eating Meat and Eating People” (1978). This work, which responds to the early animal rights philosophy of Peter Singer, Tom Regan and others, suggests a rational philosophical approach may […]