O seminário anual do Human-Animal Studies Hub acontece no dia 5 de junho. Este ano, Carol Gilgiotti (Emily Carr University of Design) será a oradora convidada e o tema será The Creativity and Cultures of Animals: A critical and creative theory perspective. O evento será online e é necessário o registo.

Sobre o evento

That animals are individuals, often recognized throughout history, is still one of the most subversive and dangerous ideas in human culture. The widespread forms of capitalism and their insistence on the use of animals as human property have intensified their use, even as the resultant devastation of this planet continues. Time is not on the side of animals, or us. How can we not only acknowledge the creativity and cultures of all kinds of animals, but also implement this knowledge in attempts to stop those uses and devastation? New research on animal creativity and cultures has opened the door to a more complex understanding of the self-aware capabilities of animals to make choices that direct the path of their lives. Many qualities, previously thought only to exist in humans, dynamically contribute to how individual animals make meaning for themselves, their families, communities, geographic populations, and species. Communicating these qualities can only help to undermine the long held belief that only human animals have inherent value and own this planet, a belief on its way out.

Short Bio of our Guest Speaker: Carol Gigliotti is an author, artist, animal activist, and scholar whose work focuses on the reality of animals’ lives as important contributors to the biodiversity of this planet. She is Professor Emerita of Design and Dynamic Media and Critical and Cultural Studies at the Emily Carr University of Design, Vancouver, BC. Canada. Her book, The Creative Lives of Animals, (NYU Press, 2022) challenges the current assumptions of creativity, offering a more comprehensive understanding through recognizing animal creativity, cognition, consciousness, and agency. The book was a Nautilis Gold Award Winner in the Animal and Nature Category in 2023. She is the editor of the book, Leonardo’s Choice: Genetic Technologies and Animals (Springer, 2009) and the author of many book chapters and journal essays on our relationships with animals.