En Vogue: From Feathers to Leather

This quarter, I’m teaching a class at University of Washington called ‘En Vogue: From Feathers to Leather’ about human and nonhuman animals in fashion. So far, we have spent the first four weeks focused on theoretical framing for the course and the human costs of the fashion industry, reading and watching documentaries about sweatshop labor, […]

Weekends: Of Pigs and Gardening

Normally, Eric and I keep our weekends relatively unscheduled and open so that we can have a chance to spend time together and catch up on stuff around the house. The work week gets so busy and hectic that we really need the weekends to regroup. These past few weekends have been busier than usual, […]

Thinking Animal Emotion in the Midst of Teaching

The quarter is in full swing, which means that teaching has completely absorbed my time and energy. Amazingly, the class has remained full and the students for the most part all seem engaged. It is so exciting to hear their ideas about the readings and watch as their thoughts shift and evolve with the material […]

Teaching in Fall (and More Generally)

For as long as I can remember, my dad (a university English professor) has said that faculty in the English department stumble around in shock at the beginning of fall term — shock that (suddenly!) the school year has begun and shock that (suddenly!) the summer is over and there is a whole different set of responsibilities. When I was […]

Gearing up for Teaching & Understanding Doublethink

School starts on Monday and I’m excited to say that I’m going to be teaching the course, ‘Animals, Ethics, and Food: Deconstructing Dominant Discourses’ again. I’ve tweaked the syllabus from last time and I hope it’s an improvement.  Last winter’s teaching adventure was one of the best experiences I’ve had at the University of Washington and […]