About
ASRI Affiliated Faculty
Professor Faculty of Law
Office: FRA 230 mdeckha@uvic.ca 250-721-8175
- Area(s) of expertise:
- animal legal studies, critical animal studies, feminist animal care theory, feminist analysis of law, socio-legal studies, and reproductive and end-of-life ethics
Professor, UBC Okanagan Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
Dr. Jodey Castricano is a Professor in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus. Her teaching is grounded in Eco-Criticism and Critical Animal Studies, and turns upon the question of posthumanism as being “after humanism” and anthropocentrism.
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Eco-Criticism, Critical Animal Studies
Associate Professor, Brock University Department of Political Science
Stefan Dolgert (PhD, Duke; BA, University of Southern California) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario. He writes and teaches on themes of inclusion and exclusion in democratic theory, and is especially interested in ancient Greece, classical China, posthumanism, critical animal studies, and Afrofuturism.
Incoming Assistant Professor School of Child & Youth Care (SCYC)
- Area(s) of expertise:
- early childhood pedagogy/praxis, children’s more-than-human relations, decolonial feminist ethics of care, common worlding research methods, environmental education
ASRI Graduate Student Fellows
Psychology
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Critical animal studies, applied ethics, environmental studies, and feminist theory
Theatre
- Area(s) of expertise:
- PhD Candidate, Applied Theatre
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Geography, environmental governance, critical animal studies, industrial agriculture, and biosecurity
Psychology
Liz Williams is a PhD candidate in Environmental Psychology at the University of Victoria. Her research focuses on relationships between humans and other species, broadly and in the context of wildlife conservation and trade, pet-keeping, and ecotourism. She works on topics of ecoanxiety and eco-grief, and draws on social psychological theories to examine inter-group relationships between species (e.g., speciesism).
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Environmental Psychology, Climate Anxiety, Companion Grief
ASRI Alumni Scholars
Ranjana Basu completed her doctoral program at Royal Roads University. She has practiced social work for a number of years and her research titled “Linking Animals, Social Justice and Social Work” aims to create a pathway for social workers to consider the wellbeing of non-human animals in their practice. She is interested in action research related to reshaping of animal-human relations and countering speciesism.
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Social Work
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Law
ASRI Project Coordinator Faculty of Law
As ASRI's Project Coordinator, Holly Cecil values working with the dedicated scholars in the growing discipline of Critical Animal Studies. Employing filmmaking to conduct and share research, her interests span a broad range including addressing exploitation of animals, human-animal relationships, interspecies empathy and cooperation, and social movements promoting plant-based dietary initiatives.
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Critical Animal Studies, Documentary Filmmaking, Plant-based Dietary Initiatives
Annette Dehalt (BSc, BEd, MSc) is a retired instructor from Camosun College’s Biology Department and Environmental Technology Program. Throughout her career, she has incorporated topics of animal sentience, compassionate conservation and anthrozoology into her biology lectures. Annette also initiated and facilitated an Animal Ethics group at Camosun.
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Marine Biology, Vertebrate Ecology, Anthrozoology
Sessional Instructor Environmental Studies
Julian Evans is a researcher, educator and sound artist who holds a Ph.D. in Theory and Criticism from Western University (Canada). His teaching and writing spans philosophy, political ecology, political theory, and sound studies, with a focus on how perception and imagination shape our relationships with ecosystems and with place. He approaches this work through the lens of ecological embodiment and the critical examination of settler-Indigenous relations. His current research explores both soundwalking and the possibilities for diplomacy between humans and animal communities.
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Embodiment, imagination and philosophical ecology
Philosophy
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Animal Ethics
Sessional Instructor Sociology
Dr. Tayler Zavitz is the Advocacy Programs Specialist at Animal Justice. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Victoria, with a specialization in Critical Animal Studies. Her doctoral research explored the history of the animal rights movement in Canada, focusing on its repression and criminalization, as well as the emotional experiences and responses of activists facing such repression.
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Political Sociology and Social Movements, Critical Animal Studies