News Bulletin - Australian Animal Studies Group

Coming
soon
South Australia
University of Adelaide
Human Animal Research Group (HARG) of Adelaide
HARG has continued to meet during 2011 and is still attracting new members from multidisciplinary
areas. Even though working in human-animal interactions is not in the job description of a lot of our
members, it is their main area of interest. With a critical mass of people we are planning a
workshop in the next 1-2 years, so stay tuned. If you live in the Adelaide area and are interested in
joining then do contact Susan Hazel (susan.hazel@adelaide.edu.au).
Australian Capital Territory
University of Canberra
Big Birds, Big Cruelty
Big Birds, Big Cruelty is a community education project with the aim to raise awareness of factory
farmed turkeys in Australia. It started out as a project undertaken by University of Canberra
student, Lara Drew, as a final year-long project in the Bachelor of Community Education degree.
Lara's project was encouraged by Bede Carmody from A Poultry Place animal sanctuary, who
acted as supervisor for the project. Bede suggested Lara research turkeys as there was very little
research on factory farmed turkeys in Australia in comparison to other farm animals such as
battery hens. The resulting work received a Voiceless grant which enabled the campaign to roll out
nationwide in time for Christmas this year.
For campaign materials and an image gallery see: http://www.bigbirdsbigcruelty.org
Western Australia
University of Western Australia
Animal Studies Discussion Group
On Thursday 8th December there was a lunchtime meeting of this new Group at the Matilda Bay
Tearooms near the University of Western Australia. The meeting discussed Pearson and
Weismantel‘s chapter 'Does "The Animal" Exist?: Toward a theory of social life with animals' from
Dorothee Brantz‘ book Beastly Natures.
For more information about the Group, contact Natalie Edwards: n.j.edwards@massey.ac.nz.
New South Wales
University of Sydney
HARN: Human-Animal Research Network.
February Seminar: Tuesday 21 February 2012, 4.30–6.00 pm. Macleay Museum, University of
Sydney
―Dangerous animals? A history of snakes, sharks and spiders in Australia‖
When, and how, do animals ‗become‘ dangerous? Perhaps surprisingly, human fear and loathing
of particular animal species is a recent phenomenon in Australia. Neither sharks nor spiders were
considered serious hazards to human life until the late 1920s. The subsequent stampede to
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