I figure after five years of eating vegans, wait, sorry – eating vegan, and having some sort of personal opin-ion on the animal rights/ethical eating issue, it was time to take a trip down the animal studies rabbit hole. This landed me in Buffalo, New York in an early March weekend to participate in the North American Con-ference for Critical Animal Studies organized by ICAS. Much to my chagrin, there were no tea parties, psyche-delic cats, or overly aggres-sive queens. There were however, a group of 70+ primarily white, middle class graduate students and professors, most of whom were extremely well edu-cated (and spoken) in re-gards to their subject mate-rial: animal studies. It is true that I found myself leaning in to listen attentively enough in order to break down the etymology of their PhD level words so I

could make sense of things. We are all, after all, still learning. The Buffalo Metro Rail dropped me off at Canisius College on a cloudy winter Buffalo morning. Having missed the opening night of the conference, I was deter-mined to get my foot in the door and start writing furiously the notes that I would use to further my understanding of my own reasons for eating vegan and such. What I would soon find out is that most of the attendees to

the conference were also speak-ers. With over 80 guests, 60 of them being speakers from all over the world, it felt a little like the first day of school, and the only reason I was there was because

they needed X amount of us. Regardless, it was exciting to discover new insights – it being my first time in an ac-tual school in years.

The lectures, when I could un-

derstand them, where amaz-

ing. The ideas alone could

and will open people’s eyes to

so much of the world they

inhabit, and yet cannot see.

Some examples from Day 1

include:

The movement from socio-political and cultural “tolerance” to “acceptance,” is short-sighted, contextual, and ultimately

Continued next page

CELEBRATING 11 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

Break Dancing in Buffalo: The 2012 North American Critical Animal Studies

Conference, Chris Christou, FoodFightTo.Com

Critical Animal Muse

Volume 2 Issue 2 Summer 2012

Chris Christou, center

inadequate. After all,

who is accepting

who?

Challenging the Oc-cupy movement to be

inclusive – acknowl-

edge the white male

dominance within the

movement, and

broaden it to include

all genders of all back-

grounds with respect

to animal rights and

inclusivity.

How film and litera-

ture reproduce stan-

dardized self-images:

American Psycho as a rep-

resentation of men re-

establishing hegemonic

power through violence

to animals (i.e. taking the

life of an animal because

taking a human’s is not

viable).

The Matrix as an allegory

for factory farms; the

question becomes, who is

farmed?

Zoosemiotics: the

study of animal lan-

guages.

Do movements, upon

reaching a certain

mainstream status or

following, become ille-

gitimate or co-opted

P A G E 2 C R I T I C A L A N I M A L M U S E

11th Annual North American Conference , con’t .

Time to pay your annual

dues? Only $20.00 per

year, $22.00 if using Pay-

Pal (to cover surcharge)

Simply go to this web site:

.http://www.criticalanim

alstudies.org/donate/

from their original inten-

tion (via advertising, ce-

lebrity endorsements,

etc)?

Humans tend to assem-

ble nonhuman species

into a single overarch-

ing group: animals.

The type of activism

that these people spoke

of was the kind that

lived in ideas and is fer-

mented in praxis, not

the kind that was forced

from reactionary im-

pulses into violence or

even marching or mak-

ing demands.

At the end of the day,

my couch surfing buddy

bailed on me, but I was

lucky enough to score a

couch at one of the local

organizer’s houses. Be-

fore that though, I had

to tag along with these

new found strangers for

the night. I was really

hoping to break in to

some local butcher’s and

commit a crime, but it

turned out their ideas of

fun was more of a 21st

century Brady Bunch

kind of vibe. Who knew?

We ate at probably the most

value-for-taste veggie diner

EVER (Amy’s Place), followed

by a nostalgic, freezing walk

to the American Niagara Falls,

which I

hadn’t seen since I was a kid.

Although they might not

look that intense at night, the

sheer magnitude of their pres-

ence was induced once more,

just as it was when I was a

child. At this point in the eve-

ning, I should have known the

stars were aligning.

Continued next pag

what I could only imagine

was Lil Jon (but I’m probably

way off on that). The original

It’s Like That dancers wouldn’t

even touch this! Un-Be-Liev-

Able.

When I

woke up the next

day I couldn’t de-

cide what I

wanted more – to

relive the previous

night’s hijinx, or

to thrust my brain

into the knowl-

edge of the fol-

lowing day’s lec-

tures. Day 2’s lec-

tures were just as

good, and better

comprehended

than the previous

day’s, especially

after getting some

rest. Throughout the day I

realized that ‘Critical Animal

Studies’ was not just an iso-

lated subject of animal rights

for vegans, but expanded be-

yond all stereotypes to include

all of the post-modern (and

post-human) perspectives.

Here are some examples:

Animal life/suffering

almost always refers to

the whole, never focus-

Next, we were whisked off to

Buffalo’s only lesbian bar, Roxy’s.

Despite the unnatural awkwardness

of strangers coming together on a

dance floor, it quickly became a rau-

cous Saturday night in Buffalo as a

sleeveless, argyle vest-wearing con-

ference organizer and an Australian

animal rights speaker began to tear

up the dance floor. Without any li-

bations, the rest of the group joined

in with the kind of moves that

would put any b-boy to shame. Seri-

ously: I stood there with my mouth

gaping, lips stretched ecstatically

from cheek to cheek. Witnessing Mr

Argyle busting an insane move, a

local lady looking almost angry and

intent on confrontation, jumped in.

(Buffalo: rePRAzent!) What followed

was at least two songs worth of the

most dirty, grimy, and amazing

dance battle royale I’ve ever seen.

The entire dance floor was empty,

except for those two. It was enough

to make RUN D.M.C and Jason

Nevins green-eyed.

As if Buffalo of all places couldn’t

get any better, ten to twelve local

ladies essentially hip-checked their

way onto the dance floor to get

down! I stood there, dumbfounded,

realizing that I was having one of

the most fun nights I have ever ex-

perienced sober. They broke into a

modified electric slide, dancing to

ing on the individual

experiences of ani-

mals.

As long as animals are

considered property,

they will suffer or be

oppressed.

Animals intentionally

resist suffering, and

thus impart agency

within their own so-

cial movement.

Buddhist traditions

follow non-duality –

all beings intimately

share each other’s suf-

fering.

Continued, p. 7

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

Conference, continued from p. 1

P A G E 4 C R I T I C A L A N I M A L M U S E

On April 13, 2012, Anthony Nocella II, Kim Socha and local Minneapolis activist

Travis Erickson presented for Normandale Community College's colloquium series.

The title was "The End of Speciesism, Capitalism and Environmental Destruction:

An Introduction to Critical Animal Studies." The event was well attended by a gal-

vanized audience with many follow up questions

This presentation, sponsored by the Institute for Critical Animal Studies, made the

argument that Western culture, still in the midst of the Occupy Wall Street Move-

ment, needs to reassess its hierarchy of rights and freedoms in consideration of the

nonhuman animals we eat, wear, hunt and with whom we share our homes and

lives. In kind, the presenters introduced the audience to Critical Animal Studies,

which looks at the ways in which speciesism underpins human oppression, capital-

ism and environmental destruction and how all of those elements intertwine to

create a culture that is based upon the exploitation of other living beings. We also

shared alternatives based in anarchist principles.

ICAS Board Members Speak at Colloquium Series

"

Kim Socha recently received tenure in Normandale Commu-nity College’s Department of English. Excellent news, Kim.

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1

ICAS IS PROUD TO BE A SPONSOR OF THE OPEN THE CAGES TOUR 2012

History of Open the Cages:

For the past year or so a few of us have been exercising the idea of organizing a tour that was a collaborative effort between artists, filmmakers, activists and musicians all united under the banner of Animal Liberation. Taking lessons from the Total Liberation and the Primate Free-dom Tours, and as the opportunity arose, we started work on what is now called the Open the Cages Tour. Essentially what we wanted to accomplish was a traveling Animal Liberation fest, including the first U.S. screenings of Maximum Tolerated Dose, and performances by bands and musicians who carry an animal rights message. In between events also participating in demonstrations and protests when the opportunities arise. A massive amount of time, energy and creativity went into the production of this tour, and there is still a lot more effort needed on our part to make it happen.

Vivisection is one of the most grotesque and unnecessary forms of animal abuse and exploita-tion in the world today. We planned this tour to not only educate people about the fraudulent scientific research and billions of taxpayer dollars that are invested in dead-end animal trials, but also to visit every major city on the west coast that has a university or company that partici-pates in animal testing. Hoping to reignite the anti-vivisection campaigns in the cities we’ll be passing through, we also aim to make connections with like minded individuals who are inter-ested in shutting down any and all companies that profit off of the suffering of other living, sentient creatures. The suffering that beagle puppies, primates, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and other animals endure in these laboratories are not only a massive waste of life, but a waste of human knowledge as well.

Towards the abolition of ALL animal testing and exploitation. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down and we will NEVER compromise in defense of animals!

-The OTC team

http://openthecagestour.com/

“MAXIMUM TOLERATED DOSE”—Coming Soon

Maximum Tolerated Dose is the first feature-length documentary by Decipher Films. The film charts the lives of both humans and non-humans who have experienced animal testing first-hand, with hauntingly honest testimony of scientists and lab technicians whose ethics demanded they choose a different path, as well as the simultaneously heartwarming and heart-breaking stories of animals who have seen both sides of the cage. MTD aims to re-ignite the de-bate about animal testing by bringing these rarely-heard perspectives to the fore.

Trailer III for MTD focuses on one thread in the film and tells the story of Jerom (aka Chimp C-499), one of the first chimps to ever develop AIDS from being intentionally infected with human HIV. The story is told by Rachel Weiss, one of the lab technicians who worked with Jerom until his death on February 13th, 1996, and who subsequently stopped participating in animal experi-mentation and went on to form the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group (http://lpag.org).

Directed by — Karol Orzechowski

Produced by — Jonathan Hodgson, Jennifer Bundock, Karol Orzechowski

Additional Filming by — Jo-Anne McArthur, Guna Subramaniam

With Footage Contributions from — The BUAV

Music by — Wyrd Visions and Bryan W. Bray

P A G E 6

P A G E 7 C R I T I C A L A N I M A L M U S E

Food Apartheid / Food Deserts

Language is constantly manipulated to abstract animal products from

their source, both in retail, wholesale, production, and transportation.

USA is 1 of 2 remaining countries to still experiment on chimpanzees

Country music culture explicitly roots itself in animal cruelty (cowboys/

rodeo culture/barns)

Following the “Spirituality and Religion” panel, I decided to ask a simple

question, in the hopes of receiving a simple answer. I asked: “What place does

(non-denominational, non-dogmatic) spirituality, have in the future of critical

animal studies.” My assumption was that many of the roots of the subject mat-

ter are based in spirituality, or simply empathy and emotional intelligence and

so I assumed answers would be flying out the whazoo! Alas, just silence. Fi-

nally, one of the speakers pointed, briefly to some of the understandings of

aboriginal cultures in their connection to the biosphere. Another speaker fol-

lowed by connecting religion to the question, and then, more silence. I was

afraid that the full academization of animal studies had rendered such possibili-

ties illegitimate or even impossible! At certain points, I had a hard time seeing

through the rough underbrush of academic language which felt class-based,

as it so often can. It was difficult at times to identify where people’s hearts were

in their arguments, or if they were there at all, relegated by the academic

model to forever being a mere consideration of the left-brain.

I suppose the only thing I left the conference without an answer for was

this question of spirituality. It seems that most of the attendees identified with

critical animal studies not just because of a repugnance for suffering and thus

a devotion for life, but as well as for a need to understand our place, purpose,

and responsibility on this planet. It is true that the orthodoxy of academia with-

draws itself from emotion and feeling, constantly fixated on logic and reason. I

just hope that in trying to “legitimize” itself as a player in the academic world,

critical animal studies does not abandon or forget its inception. Ultimately, it

was the dynamic and caring spirit of the break dancing activist-academics that

could not lead me anywhere else, but to the knowledge that they will and are

transforming the subject matter, academia itself, and the world, because as

much as the world needs ingenious arguments, it needs love and action more.

Conference, continued from p. 3

ICAS Roundtable at Minding Animals 2 Conference

Tuesday July 3rd 1430-1730, Utrecht, The Nether-

lands.

Satellite event of Minding Animals 2 Conference.

This event is FREE and attendance at Minding

Animals is not a pre-requisite. However please

register for the event by sending an e-mail to

mindinganimals@gmail.com because space is lim-

ited. There will be a CFP for this event, for short

papers/discussion pieces issued shortly.

Minding Animals will send you the address of the

roundtable once you have registered.

https://www.facebook.com/

events/389332884422452/

P A G E 8 C R I T I C A L A N I M A L M U S E

How many meat eaters does it take to change a light bulb?

None, they would rather stay in the dark about things.

P A G E 9 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1

News from Vasile Stanescu

Vasile presented his paper, "Crocodile Tears: Compassionate Carnivores and Rise of Happy Meat” at the The Conscious Eating Conference at U.C. Berkeley on February 18, 2012. Vasile also introduced and moder-ated a presentation by Professor Cary Wolfe entitled Before the Law: Ani-mals and Biopolitical Thought on Jan 30th 2012. This conversation was co-organized by Professor Ursula Heise, Dr. Sandra Koelle, and Justin Ei-chenlaub and was hosted by the En-vironmental Humanities Workshop at Stanford University. Professor Mat-thew Calarco was kind enough to sever as the respondent for both this presentation and discussion .

Look for the ICAS Table at the Animal Rights

National Conference, Washington D.C.

P A G E 1 0 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1

Blog in the spotlight: foodfightto

What is FoodFight.TO ? C h r i s C h r i s t o u

FoodFight is a concept that has been kicking around for a few years now, but has also, in other realms, been waiting patiently for the moment – the moment when the fruit of the tree of knowledge grows deep within our hearts, and is no longer picked as a com-modity of our consumption.

FoodFight is an opportunity to bridge our most forgotten and most treasured intuitions. It is an opportunity to come together and contribute to the unfolding of the present. It is an opportunity to remove our perceptions from the limited worldviews of our own lives and to broaden the spectrum in order to see and understand what everybody has on their plates.

Foodfight is an online magazine/blog dedicated to bringing forth radically new (as well as old) ideas, resources, as well as community in a way that perhaps has never been done before. The ideas, resources, and community are made up of friends and strangers – they include but are never limited to the gastronomical philosopher, food ser-vice/hospitality workers, restaurant/hotel guests, foodies, anti-foodies, farmers, consum-ers, and especially creators.

Food is something that ties our entire planet together, whether human or non-human. From the TV dinner to the light a plant takes in, each and every species on this planet recognizes, at least by its mere existence, that food is life/survival. It seems for much too long, or perhaps not that long at all, that we humans have forgotten the sanctity of our daily bread. Whether it be human awareness or the machine becoming too outdated, there is a movement happening which seeks to understand what we have lost or ig-nored about our most humbling resource, how beautiful that communion can be, and what we can do to ignite that spark in others.

FoodFight is an opportunity to bring people together, in a sort of friendly, yet humbling conversation to not only understand how we got to where we are today in regards to “food,” and how we are moving this vehicle, both human and planetary, into the future.

P A G E 1 1 C R I T I C A L A N I M A L M U S E

Highlights from the May 2012 ICAS

Board of Director’s Meeting

Kim Socha will create a document outlining the duties and responsibilities of

our interns.

Four Critical Animal Studies Workshops will be offered at various times during

the year: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Capstone

ICAS will sponsor the Open the Cages Tour/Maximum Tolerated Dose show-

ings as requested by Dylan Powell

Kim Socha was given approval to purchase a table at the Annual Anarchist

Bookfair

Board members discussed restructuring membership and membership fees

Vasile Stanescu reported that 5 books are pending in our book series

Helena Pedersen and Vasile Stanescu will speak at the Minding Animals Con-

ference

Vassar students remain in contact with ICAS about hosting a conference

Carolyn Drew continues to lay the ground work for an Oceania ICAS Confer-

ence

Richard Twine reported that 3 more issues of The Journal for Critical Animal

Studies will be published this year

We need to find someone, possibly an intern, to upload back issues of JCAS

to our website

P A G E 1 2 C R I T I C A L A N I M A L M U S E

Sarah Bezan is a contract faculty member of The University of Winnipeg’s Depart-ment of English, specializing in critical animal studies, waste aesthetics, and women’s writing. She is also a contributor to the Journal for Critical Animal Studies and Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism. An incoming Ph.D. student at The Uni-versity of Alberta, Sarah’s SSHRC-funded doctoral dissertation, entitled “Post-mortem Postmodernism(s): Dissecting the Corpse and Carcass in Contemporary Lit-erature and Culture,” will examine the interconnections between foundational and emerging conceptions of human and non-human death as represented in post-modern literature, film, and visual media.

Brittany Hanavan is originally from Wilton, Connecticut. As a rising senior at Hollins University in Virginia, she is majoring in Environmental Studies with a double minor in Biology and Political Science. Some of the activities she is involved with in on campus include being a member of the varsity basketball team, a recycling coordi-nator, club Co-Chairs of Students for Environmental Action and the Wilderness Ad-venture Club, and an active member of Arts Association and the Global Interest As-sociation. Additionally, she enjoy playing the steel pan and African mallet, reading, hiking, sailing, baking, and learning about animals.

Nicholas Silcox is a Peace and Justice major and Gender and Women studies and

Africana and African American Studies minors at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania.

As Ursinus, he is President and founder of the Animal Advocacy Coalition, President

of WeCAN, a social justice and activism group, and Vice President of the Gender

and Sexuality Alliance. He is interested in the intersectionality of academia and ac-

tivism and hopes to enter a sociology Ph.D. program to continue to be an effective

and relevant activist throughout his life.

2012 ICAS Interns:

P A G E 1 3 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1

Susan Thomas is Director, Gender and Women’s Studies,

Associate Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies, and

Political Science, Hollins University. She is a member of

the Editorial Collective, Journal for Critical Animal Stud-ies, President of The Institute for Critical Animal Studies,

and editor of Critical Animal Muse.

Sue Coe

to not only understand how we got to where we are today in regards to “food,” and how we are moving this vehicle, both human and planetary, into the future.

What is FoodFight.TO ?

much of the world they inhabit, and yet cannot see. Some examples from Day 1 include:

The movement from socio-political and cultural “tolerance” to “acceptance,” is short-sighted,

contextual, and ultimately