Faculty Research: Dr. Janet Davis on the History of Animal Activism
Dr. Janet Davis's next book, The Gospel of Kindness, is coming out in April from Oxford University Press. Recently, she published a preview of sorts in The American Historian. We've printed an excerpt below, and you can find the whole article here.
American animal protectionists from earlier centuries might seem unrecognizable today. Most ate meat. They believed in euthanasia as a humane end to creaturely suffering. They justified humanity's kinship with animals through biblical ideas of gentle stewardship. They accepted animal labor as a compulsory burden of human need. Their sites of activism included urban streets, Sunday schools, church pulpits, classrooms, temperance meetings, and the transnational missionary field. Committed to animal welfare, they strove to prevent pain and suffering. Contemporary animal rights activists, by contrast, believe that animals possess the right to exist free from human use and consumption. Consequently, current activists and their scholarly associates often miss the historical significance of earlier eras of activism. A growing historiography, however, demonstrates the centrality of animal protection to major American transformations such as Protestant revivalism and reform, the growth of science and technology, the rise of modern liberalism, child protectionism, and the development of American ideologies of benevolence.
Alumni Research: Irene Garza
As a department, we're thinking a lot about how we can bring our research to people who live and work outside of the academy, and we're always very excited when a student or faculty member reaches a wider than usual audience. We're excited to share that, last week, the NPR program Latino USA ran a story about the recruitment of Latinas/os and other people of color into the US armed forces. For the story, Latino USA spoke to UT AMS PhD candidate Irene Garza, whose dissertation is on this very topic. You can listen to the story here and read more about her research here. Congratulations, Irene!
Announcement: Symposium On The Vietnam War
We're very excited for the upcoming symposium "The Vietnam War: Lessons and Legacies From Half a Century," marking fifty years since American combat troops landed in Vietnam and featuring our department's Janet Davis and others from around the university and outside it. The event is in the AT&T Exec. Education & Conference Center’s Tejas Dining Room from 4:30-6:00 on Thursday, November 12 and is free, but an RSVP is required.More information below:
Panelists include:Madeline Y. Hsu (Panel Chair)Associate Professor of History, University of Texas at AustinJanet DavisAssociate Professor of American Studies, University of Texas at AustinLynne HudsonRN, Women’s Health PractitionerMark Atwood LawrenceAssociate Professor of History, University of Texas at AustinNancy BuiPresident, Vietnamese American Heritage FoundationPaul WoodruffDarrell K. Royal Regents Professor of Ethics and American Society, andProfessor of Philosophy and Classics, University of Texas at Austin
Announcement: AMS Pecha Kucha
UPDATE: Due to the weather, we've decided to reschedule this event for next week. More soon.Today, at 4 PM in Burdine 436A, the department of American Studies will hold its first ever Pecha Kucha. Excitingly, both members of the faculty and the graduate student body will be giving presentations of 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each. The lineup is below.