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Humans and Other Animals

Humans and Other Animals:

Rattling the Paradigm

www.unisa.ac.za

The Discipline of Philosophy at the University of South Africa (Unisa) invites students and early career practitioners from across the globe to explore the complex relationship between humans and other animals. The conference aims to create a space for voices that are frequently marginalized in animal ethics, particularly those from the Global South. It will allow students, young activists, and early career artists and performers to exchange ideas across borders and make sustainable connections with each other as well as with Unisa.

Submit Abstract

Register

Presenting at the conference offers a unique opportunity to showcase your work to an international audience, and to benefit from the diverse perspectives people from different national, religious, cultural, social, and economic backgrounds bring to issues arising from our relationship with nonhuman animals.

The conference will be conducted online on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, December 17-19. The timetable will be adjusted to best accommodate the time zones of participants. On each conference day, there will be three sessions of 45 minutes – 20 to 30 minutes of presentation, followed by discussion. In addition, there will be a keynote speaker and plenty of opportunities to interact.

The conference language is English. There is no conference fee. Participation is free for both presenters and non-presenting attendees. Presenters will receive an honorarium of 80 USD each. The deadline for abstract submission is July 31, 2024. The deadline for registration is Friday, December 13.

Please contact humansandotheranimals2024@gmail.com for any questions.

Possible Topics

The following list of possible topics for presentation is by no means exhaustive. We welcome all discussion of issues that arise from the relationship between humans and other animals.

Philosophy and Ethical Theory
- Decolonial approaches to animal ethics
- Animals in feminist theory
- The status of animals in indigenous philosophies
- Legal personhood for nonhuman animals
- Animal welfare vs. animal rights
- Indigenous knowledge systems, totemism, and animism
- The ethics of animal agriculture and animal experimentation
Activism and Community-centered Approaches
- The history and future of veganism
- Culturally-sensitive animal activism
- Animal sacrifice
- Religious and cultural barriers to animal protection
- The role and concepts of pets
- The welfare of working animals
- Poaching and the international animal trade
- Legal advocacy for animals
- Law enforcement challenges
- The impact of human-caused environmental issues on animals
Cultural Production, Art, and Performance
- The depiction of animals in indigenous art and culture
- The use and misuse of animals in art and art production
- Animal ethics or human ethics: can the arts find a balance?
- Got (blood) milk? The aesthetics of resistance in staging animal protest?
- Ecological art and its connections to animals

Who Can Submit an Abstract?

Undergraduate and graduate students who are currently enrolled at a college or university anywhere in the world
Young activists and early career artists and performers from outside the university space whose work is on animal ethics and the environment

Members of underrepresented groups and students, activists, artists, and performers from the Global South are particularly encouraged to submit abstracts.

How to Submit an Abstract

Submit an abstract of 150 to 250 words using this form no later than Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

In reviewing abstracts, we will consider the quality of the abstract as well as whether the proposed presentation will further the conference’s goal of including diverse voices. Relevant diversity considerations include but are not limited to speakers’ geographic location, field of study, activism, or artistic expression, and viewpoint.

Those who have submitted an abstract will be notified in early October whether their abstract has been accepted.

Call for Abstracts

Please download the call for abstracts (PDF or JPG) and share it within your networks.

Mentoring

Everyone whose abstracts are selected for the conference will be paired with a mentor who will help them prepare for their presentations. Mentors will discuss ideas, give feedback on drafts for presentation slides, help with language issues, and answer questions about the conference. Pre-conference workshops for each thematic block will provide an opportunity to get to know fellow presenters and explore venues of collaboration.

Honorarium for Presenters

We aim for the conference to be inclusive and accessible. Therefore, all presenters will receive an honorarium in the amount of 80 USD. The honorarium is meant to offset the cost of internet access and other costs associated with attending the conference. It will be paid out after the conclusion of the conference and is conditional on having attended both the pre-conference workshop and all three days of the conference.

Prize for the Best Presentations

For each thematic block, the best presentation, as chosen by the organizing committee, will be recognized at the end of the conference. The winning presenters will receive a certificate and be invited to work their presentations into short essays for publication.

Attendance without Presentation

Anybody anywhere in the world is welcome to attend without presenting. In order to attend, you need to register using this form no later than Friday, December 13, 2024.

Certificates of Participation

Both presenters and non-presenting attendees will receive a certificate of participation. The certificates for presenters will include the details of their presentations.

Organizing Committee

Motlatsi Khosi, Kala Bopape, and Rainer Ebert

Sponsors

This conference would not be possible without the generous support of our amazing sponsor:

cultureandanimals.org

CAF aims to advance animal advocacy and the intrinsic rights of our nonhuman fellow creatures by supporting artists and scholars whose work demonstrates a strong commitment to this aim.

animalsandsociety.org

ASI promotes and improves the study of human-animal relationships through research and public policy to create more compassionate communities for all.

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