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Minding Animals International

Minding Animals International (MAI) was founded in early 2010 by Rod Bennison to advance the Minding Animals objectives and principles.  These objectives and principles were originally adopted by the Organising Committee for the Inaugural Minding Animals Conference in Newcastle and affirmed by the Minding Animals Steering Committee (established at the close of that conference to examine holding a second conference).

MAI will, principally, hold a triennial conference, but will also provide an avenue for animal studies academics to be more active in the protection of animals.  It is recognised that animal protection in this framework encapsulates animal liberation, animal rights, wildlife protection, animal welfare and environmentalism (in no particular order of importance).

The Minding Animals International Committee now replaces the Steering Committee and will be appointed at the close of each MAC, whose objective it will be to select the next host institution(s) and then decide the themes for the following conference in collaboration with the Organising Committee for that conference, but within the broad objectives of Minding Animals as a concept.  No one theme should be advanced at the expense of another.  The Committee will be obliged to continue to provide practical advice on an ongoing basis to the Organising Committee.

Objectives and Principles

The Minding Animal Conference has the following major recurring themes and objectives:

  • To reassess the relationship between the animal and environmental movements in light of climate change and other jointly-held threats and concerns
  • To examine how humans identify and represent nonhuman animals in art, literature, music, science, and in the media and on film
  • How, throughout history, the objectification of nonhuman animals and nature in science and society, religion and philosophy, has led to the abuse of nonhuman animals and how this has since been interpreted and evaluated
  • To examine how the lives of humans and companion and domesticated nonhuman animals are intertwined, and how science, human and veterinary medicine utilise these important connections
  • How the study of animals and society can better inform both the scientific study of animals and community activism and advocacy
  • How science and community activism and advocacy can inform the academic study of nonhuman animals and society. Minding Animals Conferences will not exclude any animal, environmental, scientific or veterinary group or advocacy, or any other relevant organisation, from participating in Minding Animals, except in so far as the Conference Ethical Statement, and Conference Objectives and Themes apply. 

Minding Animals International and Conferences operate on the following principles:

  • Minding Animals does not support and will reserve the right to refuse offers of support or sponsorship where it deems that a group or organisation supports or funds animal cruelty, the use of animals in the testing of products manufactured for human cosmetics or beauty, and of any company that supports or funds the fur industry or the commercial killing of marine mammals
  • Minding Animals also does not support and will reserve the right to refuse offers of support or sponsorship from organisations that knowingly support acts of violence, the trade in armaments, nuclear weapons, tobacco promotion, oppressive regimes, environmentally damaging practices, poor employment practices and slavery, and pornography involving acts of violence. 

Conferences

The Minding Animals Conference (MAC) as a concept was devised to advance the emerging transdiscipline of Animal Studies (also known as Human Animal Studies, Animals and Society, and Critical Animal Studies) both within the academy and the broader community.  The overriding objective, therefore, will be to continue to do this.  

In addition, and to build on its transdisciplinarity, all MACs will strive to engage the sciences and the humanities.  Each MAC will also strive to engage environmental and animal advocacies.  And each MAC will strive to engage advocacies with government bureaucracies and tertiary institutions.  

Each conference will ideally be held every three years at various tertiary institutions selected by the Minding Animals International Committee and will include unique features, including:
  • a Protecting the Animals Seminar Series where advocacies, government agencies and research institutes are given the freedom to present their objectives and outline their activities in a non-confrontational and educational environment.
  • several Pre-conference Lectures around the globe to advance and promote the main MAC (cost-neutral to the MAC).
  • each MAC should provide a featured forum for Animal Studies groups to meet and organise.

Conference Organising Committees and Commitments

A Conference Organising Committee will be selected from the host institution(s) and comprise the MAI Committee Convenor and other member(s) from that Committee from the nation or continent selected to host the conference.  The Organising Committee shall elect a Conference Convenor (or Co-convenors) to head the conference and as any other members as it determines.  The Conference Convenor(s) will then be co-opted onto the MAI Committee.  

The Organising Committee will be obligated to seek funding for the conference (within the ambit of the Conference Objectives and Principles, and with the direct assistance of the MAI Committee), and to appoint a company to run/organise the conference.  As such, financial liability will always lie with the host institution(s).  The Conference Manager (from the organising company) will be a member of the Organising Committee.  

The Organising Committee will make all possible attempts to negotiate with all local public and private art galleries an arts festival to run concurrently with the Conference.  A film and or documentary festival shall also be considered, as will a performance art event.  All such events should be cost-neutral to the MAC.  

The structure of each MAC will be decided by the Organising Committee, but should include the Protecting the Animals Seminar Series and an Animals Studies Groups Forum.  A traditional conference structure is recommended with oral sessions, and plenary sessions with invited guests.  Specialist panels should also be considered.  Consideration should be made of holding dedicated roundtables on, for example, Animals and Feminism, Animals and the Queer Communities, and a Student Forum.  The Organising Committee should consider appointing a local Advisory Committee, an Abstracts/Publications Sub-Committee and a Financial Sub-committee.  

As far as is possible, and as the MAC is an academic and community conference, abstracts should not be excluded for poor academic merit alone, but should be considered also on the importance to the community and to advancing the objectives of the Minding Animals concept.  Student papers should also be actively supported.  Consideration should be made of limiting the number of accepted abstracts from any one author.  

The Conference Website will also be made available to all subsequent MACs.  The Conference Twitter, Facebook and Gmail accounts will also be made available.  

All MACS will be vegan/vegetarian (no caged eggs), and will strive to be organic and carbon-neutral.  All food will be GM-free and all vegan food shall be fully vegan.

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