Possible Topics (but not limited to)
– The effects of graphic imagery
– Reactance and message aversion
– The politics of representation of animals and animal-related issues in news media, television, film, and advertising
– Undercover investigations
– Ag-gag laws
– The effect of animal advocacy oriented actions and materials
– The role of language, e.g., “it” vs. “she” or “he,” murder vs. slaughter, livestock vs. cow, depersonalized scientific language
– Bearing witness/The Save Movement
– The concept of the absent referent
– The politics of sight
– Representing animals en mass vs. telling individual animals’ stories
– The de-animalization of meat and other animal products
– Traditionally hidden forms of animal use, e.g., factory farms and slaughterhouses, euthanasia in shelters, animal experimentation, and dog/cockfights
– (More) public forms of animal use, e.g., rodeos, bullfights, zoos, circuses, marine mammal parks, dog/horse racing, public dissections at zoos, public animal sacrifices, hunting
– Other ways we watch animals, e.g., companion animals, birding, whale watching, photographing animals, scuba diving, animal sanctuaries, safaris, ecotourism