Videos from 4th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference online

On its YouTube channel, Minding Animals Norway (MAN) has released videos from the 4th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference. MAN´s webmaster Iselin Linstad Hauge prepared the videos.

Links:

Part 1 (introduction by yours truly + presentation by Bjarne Braastad)

Part 2 (presentation by Guri Larsen)

Part 3 (presentation by Espen Gamlund)

25 attending 5th Minding Animals research seminar, at NMBU; predator/mother talk given

The 5th research seminar of Minding Animals Norway, "Mor og barn i dyreriket - menneskenes interaksjon" [Mother and child in the animal kingdom - humans´ interaction] took place at Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) at Ås outside Oslo today. The program lasted for some 4 hours, and included my talk "Mor og barn-relasjoner hos ulv og andre rovpattedyr, og hvordan disse (ikke) tas hensyn til" [Mother and child relations among wolves and other carnivore mammals, and how these are (not) being respected]. The research seminar was organized by August Torp and Benedicte Brun, with some input from me.

Some 25 people were present.

8th newsletter of Minding Animals Norway composed and distributed

Yesterday I composed and distributed the 8th issue of the newsletter of Minding Animals Norway (6 pp). Excerpt below.

Portrait of Bergljot Børresen on radio program Ekko

On the Norwegian radio program Ekko (NRK P2) this Saturday, May 2nd, a portrait of Bergljot Børresen was aired, after she received the Minding Animals award 2015 (see blog post) - a fact that was mentioned in the program.

See also the webpage of Minding Animals Norway (post about the award here, in Norwegian).

Norwegian Animal Protection Day held in Oslo

On Saturday March 21st I attended Dyreverndagen (the Norwegian Animal Protection Day) at DogA in Oslo. The event was organised by a working group sorting under Minding Animals Norway, consisting of some 15 volunteers. Some 170 people attended the event, which consisted of a seminar at day-time and a party/concert with award ceremonies in the evening.

I was on stage at two occasions - first at the end of the seminar, when I surprised project leader Hilde Valbjørn Hagelin with a bouquet of flowers. And then in the evening, I presented the winner of the 2015 Minding Animals award.

Minding Animals stand attended

On Saturday March 21st, at Dyreverndagen (the Norwegian Animal Protection Day) at DogA in Oslo, I attended the Minding Animals stand for some time in the breaks. We sold books, had brochures on display, and explained participants what we are doing as an organisation.

MA Toolkit; 2nd "Animals in the Anthropocene" CFP in 28th MAI Bulletin

In the 28th Bulletin of Minding Animals International, distributed a few days ago, there is a call for contributions to the the Minding Animals Toolkit (see previous posts) pp. 7-8, and an updated version of the Second Call for papers for the conference "Animals in the Anthropocene: Human-animal relations in a changing semiosphere" is featured on pp. 4-5 and 29-31.

Extended abstract deadline for Minding Animals 3 (Delhi 2015)

The deadline for abstract submission to the third conference of Minding Animals International (MAI), to be held in Delhi, India, January 2015, has been extended from August 15th to September 19th - see announcement.

Fish happiness conference listed in MAI bulletin #23

The upcoming fish happiness/welfare conference in Trondheim (August 20th), the 3rd Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference, is listed in bulletin no. 23 of Minding Animals International, which is distributed these days (p. 6).

Board meeting of Minding Animals Norway held

This Monday, 3rd of March, I attended and chaired the board meeting of Minding Animals Norway. Topics included plans for several events this year (to be announced).

Mention of Norwegian animal ethics conference in MAI bulletin no. 17

In the 17th bulletin of Minding Animals International, reference is made to seven upcoming Partner Events, including:

22 August, 2013: Oslo, Norway

Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference 2013

I am the contact person. For up-to-date information about what is in Norwegian called Dyreetikkonferansen 2013, see the conference website (in Norwegian). More info will appear soon.

Video installation opened at Hå gamle prestegard; includes interview with me

February 14th I met artist Anne Helen Robberstad in relation to her video installation art project "Sårbar" [Vulnerable], which deals with the topic of vulnerable animals in animal husbandry and vulnerable farmers, particularly in the Norwegian region of Jæren in the South-West of the country. Recordings resulted in a 36-minute interview with me in the form of a monologue. It features as one of 8-10 similar interviews or portraits that in combination (and partly run in parallel, from different angles) make up the video installation.

"Sårbar" opened, along with two other exhibitions in different formats, at Hå Gamle Prestegard Saturday April 20th. 200 people were reportedly present. The exhibitions will be on display until June 2nd.

The interview with me, with deals with different aspects of Human-Animal Studies and relations, was conducted in my capacity as Chair of Minding Animals Norway and Associate Professor in philosophy at University of Stavanger. 

Report from Animals & Philosophy roundtable by John Hadley published

John Hadley, who chaired the roundtable/stucy circle session "Animals & Philosophy" at Minding Animals 2 in Utrecht, the Netherlands last summer, has published a summary of that roundtable in the newsletter of the International Society for Environmental Ethics (ISEE). The report appears on pp. 37-38 of Vol. 23, No. 3 Winter 2012. I was the scribe of this roundtable.

Peer review for Minding Animals/four journals conducted

This weekend I conducted peer review of about 60 abstracts that were submitted for the second international Minding Animals conference (Utrecht, July 2012), as one of six volunteer reviewers. I recommended some 30 papers for publication. Full-length papers will likely appear in the journals Society and Animals, Animals, Relations, and Journal of Bioethical Inquiry. Due to other commitments past and present I have not volunteered to be a (co-)guest-editor of one of these four Special Issues.

The work year 2012 summarised

In 2012 I worked some 3165,5 hours. This results in an average work week (all weeks included) of 60,5 hours (against 62,0 in 2011 and 58,1 in 2010), which represents approximately 192 % of a normal work week (given 35 hours per week, minus 5 weeks of holidays).

I worked more than ever (since records begin in 2009) at the University of Stavanger (where I have in previous years only graded papers), with book projects (categorised as 'Litterært' and including both co-editing and monographs in process), and  with Minding Animals and to some extent the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies.

The share of my work time spent doing research is a bit tricky to estimate; the category "Research" stood for 28,1% of all work hours, though this does not represent all research activities and is at any rate not directly comparable to previous work 2009-2011 categorised as "doctoral work" (which included work beyond research as well).

Google Group to discuss annual Nordic HAS conference

This email was distributed to some 20 people today:

Dear all,

it was a pleasure to see so many of you (us) at our Nordic Human-Animal Studies networking session in Utrecht, during the Minding Animals conference. First, here are some links:

* Nordic HAS Network: write to [Tora Holmberg] to join email list

* Dyreetikkonferansen (Oslo, September 21) (register here)

* The research seminar "Dyr, menneske og mat - dyreetikk i landbruket" (Oslo, September 22 - abstracts due 31/8)

* Nordic HAS portal (all suggestions welcome)

Most importantly, at the informal meeting in Utrecht we came up with the idea of initiating an annual, rotating Nordic Human-Animal Studies conference, perhaps starting in 2013. In order to facilitate the discussion about how this can be done, I have established a Google Group, "Nordic HAS conference". The group's email address is [...]. Inside Google Groups you can choose how often you want to receive emails. Questions for discussion include:

* Who are willing and able to organise the first conference, in 2013?

* How should choice of venue routinely be made? (cf. below)

* Do we need to organise a Nordic NGO, or a network of established national NGOs and networks?

* Is there so much interest in Dyreetikkonferansen and the associated research seminar event (see above) that we could hold a planning meeting in Oslo 21/9 or 22/9?

Feel free to pass this email on to others. The recipients of this initial email will be invited to join the Google Group, others can join as well.

My best,

Morten Tønnessen

Chair of Minding Animals Norway

Animals and philosophy roundtable scheduled

The Animals and philosophy roundtable (for which John Hadley is the convenor, and I am the scribe) at the upcoming Minding Animals conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has been scheduled for July 4th at 13.00-14.00. In the programme it is referred to as "Study circle discussion". It will take place in a room called Ruppert Rood.

See full programme for the Utrecht conference here.

See also: 

Minding Animals presentations scheduled for July 4th
MA2 scribe instructions received

Minding Animals presentations scheduled for July 4th

Both of my presentations at the second international Minding Animals conference have been scheduled for the first full conference day, Wednesday July 4th. 

"The contemporary symbolic construction of Norway's big bad wolf" has been scheduled for 14.00-15.30, partaking in the session "Public perception of animals II" (chaired by Jan van der Valk, room: Ruppert Blauw).

"Biosemiotics and animal ethics" has been scheduled for 16.00-17.30, partaking in the session "Animal ethics: New developments II" (no chair announced, room: Ruppert 040).

Each of these papers will be alloted 17 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for questions from the audience and discussion, I've been informed.

See full programme for the Utrecht conference here.

MA2 scribe instructions received

A few days back I received the instructions for convenors and scribes of lunchtime roundtables at the second international Minding Animals conference, which is to take place in Utrect, the Netherlands, July 4-6. I am the scribe of the Animals and Philosophy roundtable, scheduled for July 4th. According to the memo, scribes will 1) collect a roll of participants/people present, 2) take a short set of minutes detailing decisions made, and 3) "assist the Convenor [in my case John Hadley] where necessary, particularly in coordinating the publication of the refereed academic paper in the ISEE [International Society for Environmental Ethics] Newsletter". Publications from the various roundtables are to appear 2012-2015.

See also:
Minding Animals Norway
Minding Animals International

Academic travels - June, July

Yesterday I arranged tickets and accommodation in relation to two academic travels this summer - to Imatra, Finland, June 8-13, where I will take part in the International Semiotics institute's Summer School (which includes the 25th year anniversary symposium of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies), and to Utrecht, the Netherlands, July 3-7th, where I will take part in the second Minding Animals Conference. The only thing that remains to arrange is my trip back home from Utrecht.

In between these two academic trips I will be on holyday with my wife and child-to-be in Brazil.