Re-Examining Conservation:

An Animal Studies Arts and Practice Symposium

April 21 - 23, 2022

Granoff Center for the Creative Arts at Brown University

154 Angell Street, Providence RI

The three-day accompanying symposium brings together an incredible interdisciplinary roster of faculty, students, and guest artists exploring a wide variety of perspectives on ways that humans are brought to bear on our current relationships with animals. The symposium kicks off following the opening reception with an evening of performances featuring Ada Smailbegović (Department of English) and Thalia Field (Department of Literary Arts).

The symposium continues on Friday with a day-long series of talks, conversations, and readings by an interdisciplinary group of Brown and RISD faculty affiliated with the campus Animal Studies group. Presenters include: Bathsheba Demuth (Department of History), David Frank (Department of Philosophy), Thangam Ravindranathan (Department of French and Francophone Studies), Iris Montero (Department of Hispanic Studies), Sheida Solemeini (BAI Visiting Artist Fellow), and others. Friday evening features a series of readings, starting with a keynote by Linda Hogan, influential and award-winning activist, teacher, and writer of fiction, poetry, and essays. Hogan will be followed by additional readings from Alberto Ríos, as well as Brown students.

The symposium concludes on Saturday with a generative workshop for writers and visual artists interested in creating new work inspired and/or informed by science relevant to the conservation of animals and their habitats. Following a lecture by Creature Conserve Founder & Executive Director Dr. Lucy Spelman, artist Samantha Dempsey and writer Susan Tacent will lead a craft discussion and provide prompts through which participants will generate stories and artwork.