Saturday – December 14, 2024 – 24th North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies

Saturday – December 14, 2024
24th North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies
Via Zoom

Free. Public. Family Friendly. Recorded.

Click Here to Register:
https://slcc-edu.zoom.us/j/85429624910?pwd=qyPESIfCpRHIcaqxTI51HsI8mggRbx.1

Conferences Chairs:
Laura Schleifer, Anthony J. Nocella II, and Kelly Nix

SCHEDULE
(Based on USA Mountain Time)
10:00am – 3:00pm

10:00am-10:10am – Welcoming and Introduction

Biography: Laura Schleifer

Biography: Kelly Nix

10:10-10:30am – Presenter One
Censored Landscapes
Isabella La Rocca González 

Biography: Isabella La Rocca González is an award-winning artist, author, and activist. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally including a solo show at the Center for Photography in Woodstock, NY. Awards for her work include the Ferguson Grant from the Friends of Photography in San Francisco, CA for excellence and commitment to the field of photography. She received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MFA in Photography from Indiana University. After thirty years teaching art and photography on the post-secondary level, she has left academia to devote herself full-time to her art practice.

Abstract: Almost twelve years in the making, Censored Landscapes unveils the hidden reality of farming animals. The project hinges on landscape photographs of the warehouses and fenced in wastelands where vast numbers of nonhuman animals are bred, confined, and slaughtered. A number included with each landscape represents the lives imprisoned within the facility, drawing attention to the magnitude of suffering behind the banal exteriors. Portraits of nonhuman animals who have been confined in such facilities are emblematic of the animals whose individuality, sentience, and beauty are obliterated by the industry. Creative nonfiction and in-depth research tell a factual story about the most abusive industry of the twenty-first century. Censored Landscapes also includes contributions from poets, scholars, and activists. Without the use of brutal imagery, the project confronts the intricate web of connections between animal agriculture, animal suffering, environmental devastation, worker exploitation, human health, economic political structures, colonialism, and the most pressing issues of our time. Censored Landscapes: The Hidden Reality of Farming Animals has been published as a book by Lantern Publishing & Media and is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and various independent bookstores.

10:30-10:40am Q and A

10:40-11:00am – Presenter Two
Slavery Abolition
Selinda Guerrero

Biography:  Selinda Guerrero is a national grassroots human rights activist and community organizer. She is the National Action Coordinator for Save the Kids, a national all-volunteer organization building a movement to end the school-to-prison pipeline. She leads Millions for Prisoners, the New Mexico chapter, a national movement to abolish the loophole in the 13th amendment that allows for the continuation of slavery through the criminal legal system. All of her work is intersectional with focus on issues concerning police violence, injustices within the Prison Slavery Industrial Complex while addressing underlying issues of generational poverty, access to housing, education, employment, and healthcare. She is a single mother of 6 with deep roots in New Mexico. She became active and motivated to work for change by building networks of community alliances over the last 30 years. She is always in the community and when not intentionally organizing she can be found at the dominoes table and spending time laughing with her children. 

11:00-11:10am – Q and A

11:10-11:30am – Presenter Three
Or Disappear into the Potter’s Ground?”:  Social-Taphonomy, Environment-making Making of Rural Potter’s Fields
Lucas Alan Dietsche

Biography: Lucas Alan Dietsche is a graduate with a master’s in criminal justice from University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He is the National Organizer of Letters to Prisoners-Save the Kids. He is also a professor of prison education. He helps send radical propaganda, books, and birthday cards as organizer of Save the Kids Letters to Prisoners Project. He is also currently an Editor of the Poetry Behind the Walls. As the Current Poet Laureate of Taconite Harbor, he has written and published many collections of poetry and novels. He has research on Poetry Criminology, and carceral feminism. He has a patreon account called The Pilot of Oumuamua.

Abstract: This explores the intersection of gender, incarceration, and burial practices through the lens of feminist convict criminology. Specifically, it examines the often-overlooked sites of the “other” – Asylum Cemeteries, Poor Farm Cemeteries, and Potters Fields – where bodies of social outcasts, the indigent, incarcerated individuals, and the elderly were interred. These spaces, marked by invisibility, serve as gendered “resting places” that highlight societal marginalization. The study delves into the concept of taphonomy, focusing on the historical and contemporary treatment of indigent and incarcerated bodies, as well as the social attitudes towards their burial rights and post-body consideration. By engaging with these forgotten spaces, this research uncovers how this contributes to understanding the spatial and gendered dimensions of death, social exclusion, and the legacies of institutionalization

11:30-11:40am – Q and A

11:40-12:00pm – Presenter Four
Lessons from an Intersectional Animal Rights Organizer
York Hayes

Biography: York Hayes is a small business owner and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, after 6 years, 6 moves, and 5 different states, York and his partner Valerie now call Portland, Oregon home. York’s Animal Rights journey started in 2014 when he was diagnosed with celiac disease. While researching different kinds of healthy gluten-free diets, he fell down the YouTube rabbit hole and landed on two documentaries that changed his life forever: Forks Over Knives and Cowspiracy.  After learning about the health & environmental implications of animal products and animal agriculture, he decided to start by trying a vegetarian “diet.” It was only 2 months later that another fateful event transpired. On a flight from Miami to Dallas, he was seated next to a woman who he came to find out was an Animal Rights Activist. When she found out he was vegetarian for health and environmental reasons, she proceeded to educate him, for the entire flight, about the horrors of the dairy industry. She was the inspiration for York to not only go 100% vegan for ethical reasons but also to follow her example and share the information with others. 10 years later, York has participated in AR events all over the US with numerous organizations, including the Utah Animal Rights Coalition (U.A.R.C.), Anonymous for the Voiceless (A.V.), Direct Action Everywhere (D.X.E.), The Save Movement, Thier Planet, Ours Too, organizers of National Animal Rights Day (N.A.R.D.), P.E.T.A., and The Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (C.A.F.T.) In 2023, York & Valerie co-founded a non-profit that sought to raise funds to feed school-age children in the Maasai Mara Kenya with plant-based meals as well as providing tuition and school supplies. Focussing on at-risk girls in the community, they hoped to keep girls in school and thus help avoid the all too common practices of Female Genital Mutilation (F.G.M.) and early childhood marriage that are still happening in many tribes today. This intersectional project proved to be very challenging and eventually failed after only a year due to mismanagement of resources on the ground in Kenya. Many lessons were learned however that will make their charitable endeavors more effective in the future. As York & Valerie start their next chapter of activism in Oregon and Washington, they find themselves in the middle of an intersectional rift between some animal rights groups in Portland. York’s objective is to bring his decades of experience working with and managing people from all walks of life to the area and to be able to bridge the divide that is hindering the movement. His goal, along with the founders of the Animal Rights Coalition of Portland (A.R.C.P.D.X.), is to bring everyone together in a unified fight for both human freedoms and animal rights.

12:00-12:10pm – Q and A

12:10-12:30pm – Presenter Five
Moving Beyond Norms of Ability and Independence
Jen Salerno

Biography: Jennifer Salerno, M.Ed., is an early childhood educator with twenty years of experience. Her efforts as an educator and child advocate focus on building trust and community among diverse groups in order to foster social, disability, and environmental justice. Jennifer’s work as a doctoral student at Antioch University is situated within critical pedagogy and stems from critical disability studies and ecoability utilizing a transdisciplinary approach. It aims to challenge norms and disrupt dominant perceptions of ability and independence by advocating for an ethic of interdependence that encompasses the natural world.

Abstract: This presentation aims to explore norms of ability and independence based on an imaginary ideal of human capacity upheld by society. People with disabilities are considered deficient and marginalized because they deviate from ableist norms (Flynn, 2021). They face significant barriers to establishing and maintaining relationships with nature as the result of ability expectations around how bodies should look and behave in the natural world (Wolbring, 2017). People with disabilities covet normality and the privileges of the able-bodied majority as a result of deeply embedded meaning perspectives and frames of reference. Through desiring normalcy and sameness, they unconsciously perpetuate the ableist structures that work to maintain their subordination (De Schauwer et al., 2020). Drawing from concepts of ecoability, this presentation calls for investigating pragmatic ways of interrupting long-standing habits of mind and ableist assumptions of normality and independence. Ecoability offers a conceptual framework that speaks to discourses of ableism, contests the notion of an independent ideal, and promotes relationality with nature. It recognizes that no human can live up to a mythic idea of unencumbered, flawless individuality. This presentation will conclude by discussing how ecoability can disrupt ableist norms and expectations that condition one’s mind by acting as the basis of a pedagogy of life that can transform the lives of people with disabilities and their relationships with the natural world.

12:30-12:40pm – Q and A

12:40-1:00pm – Presenter Six
A Radical Guide to Collective Liberation
Jason Bayless

Biography: Jason Bayless is a dedicated social justice activist whose work spans over two decades, focusing on animal rights, farmworker advocacy, and collective liberation. With a reputation as a transformative leader in the activist community, Bayless combines organizing, education, and coalition-building to challenge oppressive systems and inspire collective action. Bayless’s activism began with his commitment to animal rights. As a co-creator of PETA2, PETA’s youth division, he developed campaigns that mobilized young people to confront animal abuse across industries, including entertainment, agriculture, and fashion. His contributions to the animal rights movement extend to his work with the Center for Animal Liberation Affairs (CALA), now known as the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS), where he served as a founding board member, web designer, and, more recently, a Senior Advisory Board member. Through ICAS, Bayless has promoted critical scholarship and activism that challenge speciesism and interconnect struggles for justice. Beyond animal rights, Bayless has championed the rights of farmworkers, serving as President of the Board of Directors for the Center for Farmworker Families. In this role, he worked alongside agricultural workers to confront systemic inequities and amplify their voices in the fight for economic and social justice. His leadership reflects a deep commitment to addressing structural oppression and fostering solidarity across movements. Bayless is also a National Board member of Move to Amend, an organization focused on ending corporate personhood and eliminating the corrupting influence of money in politics. His advocacy in this space highlights his dedication to grassroots democracy and systemic change. As the founder of A Radical Guide, Bayless has created a global platform that illuminates the history and contemporary efforts of radical movements. This initiative serves as a resource hub, connecting activists, hosting workshops, and supporting community-driven projects worldwide. Through this work, Bayless has raised critical funds and amplified the voices of movements committed to building equitable and sustainable alternatives to systems of oppression. Jason Bayless’s vision is one of interconnected liberation, where struggles for animal rights, worker justice, and grassroots democracy are woven into a broader movement for equity and dignity. His tireless commitment to this work inspires individuals and communities to imagine and enact transformative change, making him a sought-after speaker and respected leader in the fight for a more liberated world.

Abstract: How do we connect global movements for justice, amplify marginalized voices, and foster practical tools for systemic change? This presentation introduces A Radical Guide (ARG) (www.radical-guide.com), a global platform committed to documenting and supporting radical movements that challenge systems of domination while building sustainable, community-driven alternatives. By centering mutual aid, direct action, and intersectional solidarity, ARG serves as a resource for activists and organizers to resist oppression and build liberatory futures. Through its extensive and continually expanding directory of radical spaces, ARG connects activists worldwide, facilitating knowledge-sharing, workshops, and collaborative campaigns. Key examples of ARG’s work include amplifying Indigenous sovereignty efforts, supporting mutual aid networks, and creating educational tools that inspire collective action. These initiatives highlight ARG’s unique role in uniting movements and fostering solidarity across struggles for liberation. Attendees will gain insights into ARG’s methods for bridging theory and practice, sustaining transformative movements, and fostering connections across diverse efforts to create systemic change. This presentation will offer reflections on how collaborative, intersectional approaches can inspire and sustain resistance while building a foundation for a more equitable world.

1:00-1:10pm – Q and A

1:10-1:30pm – Presenter Seven
The Anarchy of Black Feminism
Nathan Poirier

Biography: Nathan Poirier is a tutor of various sciences and social sciences at Lansing Community College. Nathan is proud to have coedited the books Emerging New Voices in Critical Animal Studies: Vegan Studies for Total Liberation (2022), Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination: Essays in Solidarity and Total Liberation (2024), Veganarchism: Making Veganism and Anarchism Dangerous Again (2024), and Exploring Topics of Non/Human Coexistence: Passion, Praxis, and Presence (2025), and is author of the shortly forthcoming book Veganarchism: Against All Oppression, Everywhere, All the Time with Active Distribution.

3. Abstract: In this presentation Nathan excavates the anarchy hidden in plain sight within Black feminism. “The anarchy of black feminism” is meant to refer to the anarchic elements of the wider black feminism project. The talk begins by discussing Jannifer Nash’s book Black Feminism Reimagined and summarizing her critiques of gatekeeping intersectionality and black feminism. Following that are comments on the general relationship (or lack of one) between black feminism and anarchism. Next, two particular black feminists of moderate notoriety in the popular black feminist imagination, namely Fannie Lou Hamer and Anna Julia Cooper, are singled out and examples of the anarchic dimensions of their praxis are discussed. Then, some comments are offered on how black feminism writ large has and always has had anarchic affinities. Finally, Nash is returned to so as to question her and to an extent black feminism more generally for sometimes being too supportive of the state and other upholders of oppression. Ultimately this talk functions as an expression of my interest in all radical ideas and connections between them—but most importantly my desire to see more similar work along this talk’s general topic in the future. While barely mentioning nonhuman animals, this talk fits in a wider framework of veganarchism which opposes all oppression, everywhere, all the time.

1:30-1:40pm – Q and A

1:40-2:00pm – Presenter Eight
Ecofeminism, Intersectionality, and the Exploitation of Nonhuman Animals in Industrial Agriculture: The Stories of Lily and Lizzie
Kelly Nix

Biography: Kelly Nix’s journey as an advocate for animals and humane education led her to Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, where she serves as the Executive Director. With a background in special education, principal, and unhoused services, Kelly recognized the transformative potential of education in advancing animal welfare. As an Ed.D. student at Antioch University, Kelly is committed to promoting humane education as a crucial tool for creating a more compassionate world. Her leadership at Luvin Arms allows her to inspire others to recognize our interconnectedness with all living beings. Beyond her work at the sanctuary, Kelly serves on the Board of the Association of Professional Humane Educators and as the Sanctuary Partnership Specialist for Connect For Animals. In these roles, she advocates for the integral role of farmed animal sanctuaries in providing refuge and raising awareness within the animal rights movement.

Abstract: This presentation examines the interconnected systems of oppression affecting nonhuman animals through the lenses of ecofeminism and intersectionality, focusing on the stories of Lily and Lizzie, two piglets rescued from a Smithfield Foods facility in 2017. Lily and Lizzie’s experiences exemplify the commodification and deprivation of autonomy animals face in industrial agriculture. An ecofeminist perspective reveals parallels between the reproductive exploitation of female animals in factory farming and patriarchal control over women’s bodies. Intersectionality further enriches this analysis by examining how class, race, and speciesism intersect to perpetuate systemic oppression, with industrial farming disproportionately impacting marginalized human communities and the environment. Through Lily and Lizzie’s narratives, we illuminate the lived realities of animals within industrial systems and demonstrate the power of their stories to foster empathy, inspire action, and provide a platform for educating about the interconnectedness of oppression and liberation. This presentation emphasizes the critical need to challenge anthropocentric and patriarchal narratives, advocate for systemic change, and envision a compassionate future for all beings.

2:00-2:10pm – Q and A

2:10-2:30pm – Presenter Nine
Canada’s Plant-Based Treaty Efforts
Varun Virlan

Biography: Varun Virlan is a Toronto-based animal rights advocate who became vegan 10 years ago after learning about the horrors of India’s dairy industry, falsely portrayed as ethical and rooted in reverence for cows. Varun serves as the Digital Media Director for Animal Save Movement and the Plant Based Treaty. With a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and postgraduate certifications in Public Relations – Corporate Communications and Marketing Management, he combines his expertise with activism. Varun uses digital media to inspire compassionate, sustainable practices worldwide.

Abstract: I will introduce the Plant Based Treaty and its 3R framework of Redirect, Relinquish, and Restore, alongside 40 actionable proposals to align our food system with the Paris Agreement. These proposals aim to transform food systems globally by promoting plant-based diets, reducing the environmental footprint of food production, and restoring degraded ecosystems. Cities around the world have already begun adopting policies inspired by the treaty, including Brampton, Ontario, West Hollywood, California, and capital cities like Edinburgh and Amsterdam. These cities have not only endorsed the treaty but are also implementing innovative actions to transition to sustainable food systems. Brampton serves as an inspiring example of municipal leadership. The city’s endorsement of the Plant Based Treaty includes a commitment to developing a comprehensive plant-based food strategy. Key initiatives include featuring environmentally friendly plant-based food options at city council meetings and events, requiring at least 50% of catering at open-space events to be plant-based, and exploring plant-based defaults in city facilities and regional events. Brampton is also promoting a plant-based awareness week to educate residents about sustainable food practices and will report on progress in six months as part of its action plan. The Plant Based Treaty has garnered significant global support, with endorsements from 33 cities across 10 countries, nearly a quarter of a million individuals, 3,500 groups and businesses, and prominent cultural leaders like Sir Paul McCartney. Over 100 scientists, including five Nobel Prize winners, have also lent their support, emphasizing the urgency of addressing the one-third of greenhouse gas emissions stemming from food systems. Through case studies like Brampton, I will showcase how the Plant Based Treaty can drive meaningful change. By implementing all 40 proposals, cities and nations can work toward a sustainable, Paris-aligned food system that prioritizes environmental restoration, public health, and animal protection.

2:30-2:40pm – Q and A

2:40pm to 3:00pm Presenter Ten
Earth as a CAFO; Animal Agribusiness’s Plan for Greenwashed Global Conquest
Laura Schleifer

Biography: Laura Schleifer is the Institute for Critical Animal Studies Conference Director, Program Director at Promoting Enduring Peace, and co-founder of Plant the Land, a Gaza-based vegan food sovereignty/community projects team. A lifelong “artivist” and graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she’s performed throughout the Middle East with a circus troupe, taught in China, Nicaragua, and at Wesleyan University’s Green Street Arts Center, performed off-Broadway, and arts-mentored homeless youth. Her screenplay, The Feral Child, was a Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab finalist. Her essays appear in New Politics Magazine , The Leftist Review, Project Intersect, Forca Vegan, The New Engagement, Kropotkin Now! Life, Freedom and Ethics (Black Rose Books, 2023), Resisting Neoliberal Schooling: Dismantling the Rubricization and Corporatization of Higher Education, (Peter Lang, 2023) Fever Spores; William S. Burroughs and Queer Letters, (Rebel Satori Press, 2022) and Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination (Peter Lang, 2024).

Abstract: According to the UN’s own Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a mass shift to a plant-based diet is “crucial for mitigating climate change.” Further, not only is animal agribusiness one of the biggest drivers of global warming, it’s also causing water depletion/pollution, ocean dead zones, ocean depletion, air pollution, zoonotic diseases, topsoil erosion, food shortages and species extinction. Yet, not only is the UN not acting to facilitate the transition to a plant-based food system, its Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is intertwined with the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL), a multi-partner livestock industry stakeholder alliance created to produce greater quantities of meat, dairy and eggs through industrializing and vertically integrating animal agriculture globally, under the guise that this will be more “sustainable” to meet (manufactured) rising consumer demand in the coming decades, particularly in the world’s Eastern and Southern rising economies, than more traditional forms of farming animals. Underlying this assertion is the unchallenged assumption that an animal-based diet is both nutritionally and culturally superior to traditional plant-based diets, and is a sign of cultural “advancement”. Thus, the Agenda’s goal is to create more factory farms, more slaughterhouses, and to consolidate that industry globally into being controlled by just a few multinational animal agribusiness corporations. Through foreign investments, including the US taxpayer-funded construction of factory farms and slaughterhouses in places as far away as Ethiopia, the Agenda is coercing rural small farmers, peasants, and migrant workers (themselves often displaced indigenous victims of multinational agribusiness land grabs) to become contractors and workers for these conglomerates, thus globalizing the US modern-day sharecropping system of contract farm labor, further centralizing control of the global food supply, further entrenching the world in animal exploitation and consumption, further directing grains that could be used to feed humans to feed farmed animals instead, further endangering human and ecological health, and further causing the suffering and death of trillions of animals. This presentation will explore how the global agenda developed and is wreaking havoc, and how the vegan/animal liberation movement might team up with local labor, food justice, land sovereignty and environmental activists around the world to resist this insidious threat to humans, other animals and ecosystems driven by the wrong kind of green.

3:00pm to 3:10pm – Q and A

3:10pm to 3:30pm
A Shattered Lens in the Rubble – Multispecies Awareness in Disasters
Seven Mattes

Biography: Seven Mattes, PhD (she/they), is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Integrative Studies at Michigan State University. Seven earned a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Michigan State University, specializing in Animal Studies and Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change. Their research began in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, volunteering with animal rescue organizations across Japan. Working at the intersection of Animal Studies and Disaster Studies, Seven’s interdisciplinary research aims to improve preparedness and resiliency for humans and other animals in disaster contexts.

Abstract: Disasters occur in spaces shared by a multitude of species across ecosystems. However, disasters are often defined, assessed, and reported on in terms of human losses: human lives, property, and impacts to human health. The aftermath of disasters makes clear our significant connections to nonhuman animals and the environments we share, including strong emotional bonds and mutual dependencies. New strides in animal disaster management challenge these anthropocentric biases, calling for recognition of nonhuman agency, the coproduction of vulnerabilities, and their active contributions to the communities they share. Highlighting the importance of community resilience in disaster management and the necessity of imagining our communities beyond humans, this work reviews potential frameworks as we work towards building multispecies community resilience in the Anthropocene.

3:30pm to 3:40pm – Q and A

3:40pm to 4:10pm
From Dock to Doctor: Being A “Bridge Person”
Roger Yates

Biography: Roger Yates has been a justice activist and vegan for 45 years. Involved in the 1980s in a series of “action groups,” he was also the Northern Press Officer of The Animal Liberation Front. His MA was an examination of the British animal advocacy movement and his PhD is on the support pillars of cultural speciesism – philosophy, theology, and everyday social practices. He is currently the organising volunteer for the Dublin-based Vegan Information Project. His teaching included critical theory, social movement theory, and the sociology of humour.

Abstract: As a PhD candidate, I saw my role as a “bridge” between academia and the social movement(s) I was involve in. This paper explores the extent to which I was successful in bringing sociological understandings of systems, power relations, and socialisation processes into the animal advocacy movement, while at the same time describing and explaining the movement to the academy.

4:10pm to 4:30pm – Q and A

All Speakers have 20 minutes to present with 10 minutes of questions and comments.

SUBMIT
All submissions for the conference need to hold to the mission and principles of CAS and ICAS and to submit in a Word Doc. as an attachment in an E-mail with the following information:
1. Title of Presentation
2. Biography third person 80 to 100 words one paragraph
3. Description/Abstract of the presentation around 200 words third person and one paragraph

SEND SUBMISSION TO:

INTERESTED THEMES:

Transformative Justice
Critical disability studies
Healing Justice
Cultural and Religious intersectionalities
Language Terminology
Policy and/or/versus Culture Social Change
Social and Cultural Construction of Disabilities
Fighting Political and Corporate Repression
Being a Scholar-Activist
Decolonizing Movements and Education
Social Movement
Environmental Justice
Ecology
Social Ecology
Deep Ecology
Disability Pedagogy
Rhetoric of Health and Wellness
Social Attitudes of Neuroatypicality
Total Liberation
Anti-Capitalism
Racial Justice
Economic Justice
Social Justice
Youth Justice
Critical Eco-Feminism
LGBTTQQIA+ Justice
Mediation
Community Justice and Circles
Direct Democracy
Anarchist Criminology
Radical Criminology
Peace Studies and Making
Conflict Transformation and Resolution