Considering Animals: Contemporary Studies in Human–Animal Relations

by Carol Freeman (Editor), Elizabeth Leane (Editor), Yvette Watt (Editor)

Considering Animals draws on the expertise of scholars trained in the biological sciences, humanities, and social sciences to investigate the complex and contradictory relationships humans have with nonhuman animals. Taking their cue from the specific 'animal moments' that punctuate these interactions, the essays engage with contemporary issues and debates central to human-animal studies: the representation of animals, the practical and ethical issues inseparable from human interactions with other species, and, perhaps most challengingly, the compelling evidence that animals are themselves considering beings. Case studies focus on issues such as animal emotion and human 'sentimentality'; the representation of animals in contemporary art and in recent films such as March of the Penguins, Happy Feet, and Grizzly Man; animals' experiences in catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina and the SARS outbreak; and the danger of overvaluing the role humans play in the earth's ecosystems. From Marc Bekoff's moving preface through to the last essay, Considering Animals foregrounds the frequent, sometimes uncanny, exchanges with other species that disturb our self-contained existences and bring into focus our troubled relationships with them. Written in an accessible and jargon-free style, this collection demonstrates that, in the face of species extinction and environmental destruction, the roles and fates of animals are too important to be left to any one academic discipline.

252 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Carol Freeman is a writer and Adjunct Researcher at the University of Tasmania. Carol grew up in Warrnambool, a town on the wild southern coast of Australia. In Hobart she has had a long association with the University of Tasmania. She has written academic papers, essays and articles for a wide range of publications—from edited books to exhibition catalogues—and solely compiled and edited the Australian Animal Studies News Bulletin, a quarterly e-publication that is sent to hundreds of readers around the world and posted on animal studies websites and discussion lists, from 2008 to 2014.
She lives in Hobart with her husband Tony and a cat called Jakarta Tomcat (Jack). Her work focuses on representations of extinct and threatened species, ethics in human-animal relations and visualisations of animals in popular culture and wildlife documentaries.