The Australasian Animal Studies Association (AASA) is an Australian association of

animal studies Animal studies is a recently recognised field in which animals are studied in a variety of cross-disciplinary ways. Scholars who engage in animal studies may be formally trained in a number of diverse fields, including art history, anthropology ...

scholars, scientists, creative artists, and animal advocates. The association was founded by Siobhan O’Sullivan, a professor from the School of Social Sciences of the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

(UNSW). The association started publishing in 2008 the ''AASA News Bulletin'' as a quarterly electronic publication. The publication is presently the publication ''Animail''. The online scholarly publication for human-animal studies for the association is the ''Animal Studies Journal''. The association also hosts a variety of conferences on animal studies. The 2023 conference was titled ''Animal Cultures'' and discussed the "emerging scientific and philosophical considerations of culture in non-human animal communities". As part of its efforts to support creative artists in the realm of animal studies, the association maintains an online art gallery. The association also hosts the Val Plumwood Lecture Series. Starting in 2021, the association began awarding the AASA Animal Studies Awards.

''Animal Studies Journal''

The ''Animal Studies Journal'' works closely with the AASA. The journal is published twice a year and is a forum for research in topic of

human-animal studies Anthrozoology, also known as human–animal studies (HAS), is the subset of ethnobiology that deals with biological interaction, interactions between humans and other animals. It is an interdisciplinary field that overlaps with other disciplin ...

. The journal is

cross-disciplinary An academic discipline or academic field is a subdivision of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part) and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, a ...

in the content that it publishes. It has a particular, but not exclusive, interest in Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific scholarship. The

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's Editing, editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is hel ...

for the journal is Dr. Melissa Boyde of the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia.

Val Plumwood Lecture Series

The AASA hosts the Val Plumwood Lecture Series. Val Plumwood was an Australian environmental philosopher. The 2024 lecture was titled "Social Lives of Animals: Domination,

Intersectionality Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...

, and Heterotopia".

AASA Animal Studies Awards

The following awards are awarded by the association: * The AASA Journal Article Prize: A prize for excellence in the work of early-career researchers. The inaugural prize in 2021 was awarded to Dr. Brodie Evans, a

visiting fellow In academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of ...

at the Centre of Justice at

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

. His article was ''Contesting and reinforcing the future of ‘meat’ through problematization: Analyzing the discourses in regulatory debates around animal cell-cultured meat'', which was co-authored with Dr. Hope Johnson. It was published in 2021 in the journal ''

Geoforum ''Geoforum'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of geography which focuses on social, political, economic, and environmental activities that occur around the globe within the context of geographical space and time. It was originally published by ...

.'' * The AASA Popular Communication of Animal Studies Prize: A prize for "increasing public awareness of the field and its value to human-animal relations". The inaugural prize in 2021 was awarded to Claudia Hirtenfelder, who hosts ''The Animal Turn Podcast''. The podcast addresses the new focus on animals in modern times.

Conferences

The theme of the 2023 conference was 'Animal Cultures'. The keynote speaker for the conference was U.S. author Carol Gigliotti with ''Why knowledge of animal cultures is critical''.

Gallery

The gallery features the following artists: * Evelyn Kolijn: A printmaker and installation artist from

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. * Dr. Debbie Symons: A multi-disciplinary artist who uses drawing, video, and installation to communicate central themes. * Sue Kalab: An artist known for her depictions of the

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, and landscapes of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. * Linda Brant: A visual artist and

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

based in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

with a private practice and a part-time teaching position at

Ringling College of Art and Design Ringling College of Art and Design (RCAD; stylized as Ringling College of Art + Design) is a private art and design school in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded by Ludd M. Spivey as an art school in 1931 as a remote branch of Southern College b ...

and

Saybrook University Saybrook University is a private university in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1971 by Eleanor Camp Criswell and others. It offers postgraduate education with a focus on humanistic psychology. It features low residency, master's, and ...

. * Claude Jones: An Australian artist and ceramicist. * Bonita Alice: An artist from South Africa, with a focus with psychological matters and our relationship with other animals. * Iris Bergmann: Originally from

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, an artist inspired by nature's untamed beauty. * Trace Johansson: Trace Johansson is an artist who has created works in animal-human art.{{Cite web , date=2011-05-22 , title=Trace Johnson {{! Australasian Animal Studies Association , url=https://animalstudies.org.au/gallery-old/trace-johnson , access-date=2025-01-19 , website=animalstudies.org.au , language=en-US

References

External links

Australasian Animal Studies Association

AASA Art Gallery
Animal research institutes Research institutes in Australia