“Animals and Society” at the Rotman Research Roundtable

Please visit the Rotman website for details and registration.

SYNOPSIS: This half-day conference aims to bring together scholars interested in exploring the rapidly shifting attitudes of humans toward nonhuman animals, with emphasis on implications for society, including animal advocacy, animal rights, the use of animals in for-profit and non-profit enterprise, and related topics. Scientific discoveries are shedding new light on animals’ intelligence, their capacity to feel pain, and their predisposition to form social bonds. As a result of these developments, public institutions and the legal system are facing increased public scrutiny and pressure from animal advocates to change the way animals are represented and treated by humans. Research in the social sciences, sciences, and humanities is rapidly coming online to examine the evolving status of animals and the practical implications of that evolution for both humans and animals. In this half-day conference, and in the planned monthly working group meetings that are intended to emerge following the conference, we will consider and discuss working papers presented by researchers from various disciplines. Coming from an interdisciplinary point of view and using all the tools at our disposal, we hope to advance research on animals and society.

AGENDA: Specific times may shift in the final schedule. Each presentation block will consist of 25 minutes of content from the presenter(s) followed by 10 minutes of interactive questions/comments.

• 12:15-12:45pm: Check-in, casual welcome lunch, and mingling
• 12:45-12:50: Opening Remarks
• 12:50-1:25: Matthew Feinberg, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto — Understanding the Process of Moralization: How Eating Meat Becomes a Moral Issue
• 1:25-2:00: Kendra Coulter, Centre for Labour Studies, Brock University — Humane Jobs
• 2:00-2:35: Nicola Lacetera and Lisa Kramer, Rotman School of Management & UTM Department of Management, University of Toronto — The Making of Moral Repugnance in Dietary Choice: An Experimental Analysis
• 2:35-3:00: Coffee & Snacks
• 3:00-3:35: Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka, Department of Political Science, Queen’s University — Farmed Animal Sanctuaries as Potential Models of Interspecies Society
• 3:35-4:10: Jody Berland, Department of Humanities, York University — Animal Agriculture and Climate Change
• 4:10-4:45: Kristin Andrews, Department of Philosophy, York University — Animal Personhood
• 4:45-4:50: Closing Remarks

[Photo Credit (Ducks): We Animals Media - WAM 37005]