First call for papers
1. Date and venue
Friday 2 December 2011; 9.00-17.00 hrs
Newcastle University, Baddiley-Clark Building, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
2. Objectives of the conference
This conference will provide an opportunity to bring together the best scholars working on the intersections between animal ethics, sustainability, and food policy, and to develop further capacity and stimulate community action in this field. Scholars from different disciplines as well as those who adopt interdisciplinary perspectives are welcomed to submit extended abstracts insofar as they engage with the question of how governments should address the ethical issues raised by the consumption of animal products. To contextualise the problem, abstracts should address the following question:
'How should the UK Government regulate the consumption of animal products?'
3. Context
This conference is needed to build capacity as well as consolidate existing scholarship and community action on the ethics and politics associated with the consumption of animal products. Internationally, the field of human-animal studies has gained impetus through the ‘Minding Animals’ conferences, the first of which was held at the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2009, and the second of which will be held in 2012. The planned conference will serve as a pre-conference for the latter, which will provide a further opportunity to explore the theme of animal ethics and sustainable food policy. The Newcastle Animal Ethics and Sustainable Food Policy conference will provide an opportunity to address the question of how governments should regulate the consumption of animal products. Whereas speakers are invited to focus on the UK with its distinctive social, economic, geographical, and climatological context, they should also consider how UK policies might differ from as well as inspire policies that might be adopted in other legal contexts.
4. Academic organising committee
- Jan Deckers (conference chair, Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University)
- Cristina Garcia-Fernandez (Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University)
- Jonny Anomaly (University of North Carolina and Duke University).
- Rod Bennison (CEO, Minding Animals International)
5. Proposed format
Scholars who wish to present a paper are invited to submit abstracts of up to 1000 words (without counting the references section) in relation to the conference question. On the basis of these abstracts, the academic organising committee will select up to 6 speakers who will be invited to submit full-length papers for presentation before the date of the conference.
Invited speakers will be able to benefit from receiving full financial support to pay for travel, subsistence, and accommodation expenses to participate in the conference (up to a generous maximum limit).
All abstracts must be submitted by email (in a Word attachment; without inclusion of personal details to allow for blind reviewing) to tanya.hutchison@ncl.ac.uk by the deadline of 31/8/2011, mentioning ‘NAES’ in the subject heading. The outcome of the review process will be communicated by 30/9/2011. Reviewers will decide on which speakers to invite to present at the conference, and on a more extensive list of authors who will be invited to submit their abstracts for a Special Issue application that will be made by the conference chair to Food Policy (by the deadline of 15/10/2011). In relation to the latter, please consider the guidelines for Special Issues at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30419/authorinstructions#19001
To register, please complete the booking form at http://forms.ncl.ac.uk/view.php?id=1993
Participants are advised to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements. Options for accommodation include: Premier Inn Newcastle Central, Newbridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8BS; Premier Inn Newcastle City Centre (Millennium Bridge) City Road, Quay Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 2AN; Royal Station Hotel, Neville Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5DH; Jurys Inn Newcastle, Scotswood Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4AD.