The Exceptional Animal
A symposium at Oxford Brookes University, UK
Friday 6 September 2013
Free, open to everyone, no registration required

Much has been said concerning the exceptional nature of the human being, and these celebrations have, in turn, attracted considerable criticism.  But what, exactly, is “human exceptionalism”–a term of very recent coinage–and how does it articulate with broader forms of anthropocentric thought?  How has this exceptionalism manifested, and been contested, within literary and cinematic texts, particularly those concerned with nonhuman animals and their treatment?  And what are the ethical, political and personal stakes involved in any engagement with questions of human exceptionalism.  This one day symposium will bring together new work on these matters by Alastair Hunt (Portland State University), Robert McKay (University of Sheffield), Anat Pick (Queen Mary, University of London) and Tom Tyler (Oxford Brookes University).

Tom Tyler, The Exception and the Norm: Dimensions of Anthropocentrism
http://history.brookes.ac.uk/staff/prof.asp?ID=729

Robert McKay, Read Meat: Species Exceptionalism in Michel Faber’s Under the Skin
http://www.shef.ac.uk/english/people/mckay

Anat Pick, Criminal Animals: Animality, Vulnerability, and the Biopolitics of Film.
http://filmstudies.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/people/anat-pick

Alastair Hunt, The Politics of Personification
http://www.english.pdx.edu/faculty/hunt_a.php

Time:   12.30pm to 5.00pm
Place:  Harcourt Hill Campus, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX2 9AT, United Kingdom
More information, including abstracts: http://www.history.brookes.ac.uk/conferences/2013/exceptional-animal/
Contact: Tom Tyler (ttyler@brookes.ac.uk)