Weather aside, it was a fabulous trip and a fabulous conference. Huge congrats to the organizers, Robert Mitchell and Julia Schlosser, on the event!

There were so many great papers and keynote addresses that it would be impossible for me to write about them all here, but some that I found to be especially thought-provoking include:

• Margo DeMello‘s keynote address on using videos and images in animal studies classes
• Mary Shannon Johnstone‘s presentation on her photographic work, including her incredible project entitled “Landfill Dogs“
• Christina Colvin’s presentation on the practice of pet taxidermy
• Monica Mattfeld’s presentation on the memorialization of “The Spanish Horse” in 18th century London
• Brett Mizelle‘s presentation on the culture of butchers and slaughterhouses in the late-19th and early-20th centuries
• L.A. Watson‘s discussion of the fabulous National Museum of Animals & Society as well as her own artwork which will be featured in an upcoming NMAS exhibition

I presented in the “Teaching With Animals” stream of the conference, and gave a presentation on my class, VISA 3P98: Picturing Animals.” I talked about some of the different themes we cover in this class, as well as the challenges and rewards of teaching “animal studies” in an art department. I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to talk with others who are teaching similar topics in their respective departments, centres, and schools. To that end, I was especially appreciative of the “break out” sessions that were scheduled around different issues to do with teaching. I will admit that the phrase “break out session” usually has me heading for the hills, but in this case it was a very interesting and valuable exchange of ideas and course outlines. I also found the panel discussion on “Teaching With Animals” (moderated by Brett Mizelle and featuring Margo DeMello, Robert Mitchell, Kenneth Shapiro, and Kari Weil) to be very enlightening, particularly around the issue of setting up programs in animal studies at the college and university level.

I have had enough of airports in recent months, so this was a road trip! What an interesting way to see the country. We broke the trip up in to two days, and the first night we stopped in Columbus, OH. We specifically planned our route so that we could check out Hal & Al’s, a fabulously quirky bar that has both an incredible selection of craft brews AND an all-vegan menu. Our plans for stopping there on the way back through were scuttled as we adjusted our travel to avoid Winter Storm Virgil. (since when do we name winter storms?) We did, however, stop in Detroit for a vegan brunch at PJ’s Lager House. It was another funky little bar with fabulous vegan food! We need more of these kinds of places in Canada! Once of the best parts about PJ’s was the resident dog, a beautiful pit-cross named Sugar. She was so friendly and gentle, just walking around saying hello to everyone having brunch. It makes me so angry that a beautiful dog like this would be “illegal” in Ontario.

While of course we can never know the precise reasons and motivations behind the actions of these dolphins on this particular day, it seems clear that they were working together to do what they could to help their injured friend. Researchers like Marc Bekoff have repeatedly demonstrated that when we witness a scene like this it is very likely that we are witnessing compassionate, caring behaviour among nonhuman animals. There continue to be skeptics, people who believe that these kinds of characteristics only exist in human societies, but, thankfully it seems that these skeptics are fewer in number these days.

I think that visual culture has an important role to play in this dynamic. While we need to be careful to not equate video footage or photographs with “the truth” (in its most simplistic sense), there is tremendous power in giving large numbers of people the opportunity to “bear witness” to something like the scene unfolding in this video.

It may be a cold and gloomy day in Niagara today (apparently it is Blue Monday), but before we know it, Niagara VegFest will be upon us! We are working away getting things ready–much excitement here at Niagara VegFest headquarters! Registrations are starting to come in, the list of speakers is nearly finalized, and we are busy working on other plans for the festival. Stay tuned!

My column is called “Picturing Animals,” and focuses on the ways in which art and visual culture can be an important part of animal advocacy efforts.  In this column I will be writing about how activists use imagery today, but will also be considering examples of art and visual culture used by activists in previous eras as I think it is important to draw connections between the history of animal advocacy and what is being done today.

I am very excited about the opportunity to write this column–I had been wanting to do more writing that blends activism and academic work, so this is a perfect fit. I’m also really happy to be part of the Our Hen House team. Jasmin and Mariann bring an “indefatigably positive” spirit to the work they do, and I find this tremendously encouraging. Activism can be a tough, lonely, and discouraging road (heck, so can academia!), and it is so easy to get burnt out. However, without fail, every single time I listen to an Our Hen House podcast or hear these two talented women speak I feel inspired to do more, to work harder to help make a difference for animals.

I’ve been playing with a number of apps and pieces of software over the past little while, but hadn’t really set up a proper system until recently. I guess I wanted to test-drive a few to see which worked best for me and also with one another–compatibility is key! There are four apps/pieces of software that have risen to the top for me: Zotero, Dropbox, Evernote, and iAnnotate PDF. I like these because they have many useful features, are easy to use, and work well with one another. At the start of this semester I spent some time setting up a system that I’m hoping will help me stay focused:

1. I switched from EndNote to Zotero because of the portability factor. I was getting really frustrated with having my “library” on my home computer but only working from that computer a fraction of the time. So far so good. It was easy to import my Endnote library, and really like the ability to capture citations right from my browser! I can now access my library from anywhere I have an internet connection.

2. Dropbox rocks my world. Chapter drafts, articles to be read, image files are all just there waiting for me when I need them. No more worrying about whether I’m working from the most recent version of a document or not. I upgraded to a Pro account so I have more storage, and it is totally worth it. I love how easy it is to use, and I really love the new feature where my photos from my iPhone are immediately uploaded to Dropbox, a fabulous back-up system for any photos, but an especially great tool for keeping track of the photos I take on research trips.  Simply fabulous!

3. Like most academics, I take a lot of notes. I have handwritten notes scribbled in notebooks, typed notes on the computer, notes I wrote on my iPad with my stylus, etc. The trouble is, I hadn’t stopped to come up with a way to organize them. I would spend far too long looking for notes that I took on a book that I only vaguely remembered (“umm…I know I read a book that mentioned this last summer, what was it? The title had the word “Peace” in it and might have had a blue cover…”). Enter Evernote, a fabulous tool that works on my computers, iPhone, and iPad. You can set up multiple, searchable “notebooks” that then sync across devices. I am in the process of taking all those wayward notes and putting them in to an Evernote notebook called “notes for new book.” Transferring them all is time-consuming, but I am sure this will end up being time well-spent. I also have a notebook in Evernote with the images I am using for this project as well as a master “to-do” list.

4. iAnnotate PDF is another tool that I’ve started to use lately, and I find it especially great for reading journal articles as you can highlight and make annotations on the PDF document as you read. I do eventually still make notes in Evernote, but I find this a really useful intermediate step in the research process.

I’m sure there are other tools and systems that people have found useful for organizing a writing project. I’d love to hear about them!

I think the most difficult thing about this post is that it is incredibly difficult to carve out sustained writing and research time. I’ll have an afternoon here or there, but the amount of time between these sessions means that I spend most of this precious found writing/research time trying to figure out where I left off. I need to get better and finding a way to implement regular, sustained writing/research sessions, even if they are shorter. As I learned while on sabbatical, it is the frequency of these sessions more than the length that really makes the difference.

Last summer I took two weeks vacation time (something I’ve only done once before since finishing the PhD, probably not a good idea) to have a mini writing retreat. I had a colleague take over as “Acting Chair” (see point above about helpful, good people around me) so that I could just focus on the book manuscript I have been working on. 2 glorious weeks of just thinking, writing, reading was just what I needed and felt more restorative than if I’d taken those two weeks to travel. Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling, but I was aching for some focused, quiet time with my research. In December I took at trip over to London to spend some time at the British Library for the same reason. This time another wonderful colleague stepped up and was “Acting Chair” in my absence, allowing me to make the trip.  I found a great flat walking distance to the library and quickly fell in to a routine that included hours in the reading rooms and then evenings filled with quiet reflection and free writing. Pure bliss!

These two writing/research “retreats” were amazing, but it is so difficult it is to get this kind of sustained time to really focus. I need to work harder at building this in to my daily schedule. When I was working on my PhD, Joan Bolker’s advice to “write first” and “write every day” really helped me to stay focused and finish quickly. It is time to go back to those basics!

Happy Anniversary, Miss Jilly Bean! I hope we have many more wonderful years together!

Kyle and the Rise Above team have become a fixture in downtown St. Catharines, participating in everything from a fund-raising Chili cook off to our very own Niagara VegFest. Rise Above’s presence in downtown St. Catharines has had a ripple effect, with several other restaurants, bars, and cafes in the neighbourhood now boasting vegan options.

One of my favourite things about Rise Above are the “tasting menu” evenings, special events where diners are treated to a 5 course meal comprised of dishes not found on the regular menu. These are gourmet courses, edible works of art. These dinners sell out within hours and are among the hottest tickets in town. Keep an eye on Rise Above’s Facebook and Twitter feeds to catch wind of when the next one is happening. (I hear there are 3 slated for early December)

The regular menu at Rise Above is pretty spectacular too. I’m particularly partial to the gnocchi (served with a cashew cream sauce that will blow your mind). And have I mentioned brunch? The brunch menu changes regularly, but is always incredible. With options like banana bread french toast (pictured below), you won’t be disappointed!

Congrats on this anniversary, Kyle, and thank you for making downtown St. Catharines such a great place to be a vegan! May there be plenty more Rise Above goodness in the years to come!

The NMAS is a wonderful museum dedicated to preserving the history of human-animal relationships, a history that has until very recently been woefully neglected by curators, historians, and academics. This is an important history, and the work that the NMAS is doing is so valuable. If you have any artefacts relating to the history of human-animal relationships or advocacy campaigns from previous eras that you would like to donate to the museum, they would love to hear from you!

Ingredients: kale (15 cups of it! whoa!), sun dried tomatoes, quinoa pasta, nutritional yeast, hot chilli flakes, tahini, shallots, and garlic.

The only regret I have is not running out to get different box of quinoa pasta. The only one I had in the house was a spaghetti and I think this dish would be better with a smaller noodle. However, it still tasted amazing and I’ll be making this one again! Thanks Jasmin!