This dissertation investigates the visual and verbal representations of animals in a selection of commercial picture books for a young readership of preschool children. The picture books selected are part of the Little Golden Book series. The first twelve books in this series were published in the United States in 1942 and are still in print today, while new books are continually being published. Because these popular picture books have had a broad readership from their inception and the books in the series have a uniform aesthetics, a comparative analysis provides insight into mainstream human-animal relationships.  Children’s literature is never innocent, and fraught with power imbalances. Animals become political beings, not only in the sense that they convey a didactic message, but in the sense that each animal representation carries a host of ideas and assumptions about human-animal relations with it. Using a theoretical framework that is grounded in Human Animal Studies (HAS), and more specifically literary animal studies, this dissertation analyzes the representation of human-animal interactions and relationships in different contexts.  Before the advent of HAS, anthropocentric, humanist interpretations of animal presence in children’s literature used to be prevalent. Commercial picture books in particular could benefit from readings that investigate animal presence without immediately resorting to humanist interpretations. One way of doing that is to start by questioning how interspecies difference and hierarchy is constructed in these books, verbally, visually and in the interaction between words and images. Based on this, we can speculate about the consequences this may have for the reader’s conceptualization of human-animal relationships. In children’s literature speciesism and ageism often intersect, for example when young children are compared with (young) animals or when animals are presented as stand-ins for young children. This dissertation explores the mechanisms behind the representation of species difference in commercial picture books.  The aim of this study is to analyze how commercial picture books like the Little Golden Books harbor a potential to shape young readers’ ideas about humanity and animality, species difference and hierarchy and the possibilities of interspecies interactions. The socializing function that is an important component of all children’s books makes that these picture books can shape readers’ attitudes from an early age. When reading children’s books featuring animals, the particular way these animals are represented guides the reader towards an ideology – and in the West, this ideology is predominantly anthropocentric. In Western cultures, children and animals are commonly thought of as natural allies, and as such they are often depicted as opposed to adult culture.  This dissertation identifies the ways in which certain conservative tendencies are activated by these commercial picture books, but also emphasizes that they can be a subversive space where anthropocentrism can be challenged. The case studies developed in this dissertation demonstrate how even so-called ’unsophisticated’ picture books contain interesting strains of animal related ideology worthy of in-depth analysis. The visual and verbal dimensions of these picture books show that these stories are embedded in a cultural context that helps give meaning to the animals. A recurring concern is the function of anthropomorphism and the role it plays in how we value the animals in these books. I am particularly interested in how picture books depict various degrees of anthropomorphism, because it has the potential to challenge species boundaries and disrupt the human-animal dichotomy.

Seit dem in den 1990er Jahren proklamierten Animal Turn befasst sich das interdisziplinäre Forschungsfeld der Human-Animal Studies mit dem von Missverständnissen geprägten Verhältnis zwischen Mensch und Tier. Das Bestreben liegt darin, Disziplinen wie Biologie, Philosophie, Soziologie, Anthropologie und Geschichte zusammenzuführen und einen Perspektivwechsel hin zur Anerkennung nichtmenschlicher Wirkmächtigkeit und ihrer Agency vorzunehmen. Ich werde zu Beginn meiner Arbeit nachvollziehen, in welchem Maße die religiöse, wissenschaftliche und philosophische Zentrierung des Menschen immer wieder dazu gedient hat, jedwede Form von Unterdrückung und Gewalt an sogenannten Anderen zu legitimieren. Dies war und ist nur dadurch möglich, dass sich der angebliche Universalismus des Menschen aus dem Konstrukt des heterosexuellen, weißen Mannes speist(e), dessen Männlichkeit als geschlechtslos, dessen „Weißsein als unrassifiziert, Cis-Geschlechtlichkeit als echt, und so weiter“ (Laboria Cuboniks 2015: 26) erscheint. So wurden „Tiere“, „Frauen“ und „Schwarze“ in abendländischen Diskursen immer wieder als „Andere“ konstruiert, diffamiert, diskriminiert und eliminiert. Während das Überleben auf einem gemeinsamen Planeten einen ebenso bescheidenen wie essentiellen Anspruch formuliert, bleibt darüber hinaus auf kommende Gemeinschaften zu hoffen, in der unterschiedlichen Seins- und Beziehungsweisen nicht mit Gewalt und Unterdrückung, sondern gegenseitigem Respekt, Neugierde und „uneigennütziger Solidarität“ (Vgl. Ebd.: 33) begegnet wird, sowohl zwischen Menschen als auch zwischen Spezies. Die Bestrebungen der Human-Animal Studies sind in diesem Sinne basal für zukünftige, fürsorglichere Gesellschaften, die erst mit der Überwindung des Anthropozentrismus möglich sind. Wie kommen wir endlich von den etablierten Positionen im Nachdenken über humans und nonhuman animals hin zu einer Neukonstitution von Beziehungsweisen und zu der Anerkennung produktiver Differenzen? Einen eigenen Wissenskanon zu formulieren, ist eine wirksame Intervention, um den hartnäckigen Fundamenten den Kampf anzusagen. Diese Arbeit ist in dieser Hinsicht auch eine Dokumentation meiner Recherche nach Verbündeten, deren Gemeinsamkeiten und produktiven Differenzen. Die titelgebenden ANIMAL REMINDER leihe ich mir von Martha C. Nussbaum und etabliere sie im Laufe der Arbeit als eine Figur der Transition: ANIMAL REMINDER verweisen auf die Probleme und Potentiale an porösen Grenzübergängen. Deren Koordinaten sind variabel und einer Vielzahl an Interpretationen und Irritationen unterworfen. ANIMAL REMINDER kommentieren zeitgenössische Diskurse an den Schnittstellen von feministischer Theorie, Kunst, Technik und Wissenschaft und lassen sie in unterschiedlichen Bedeutungsfacetten changieren. Sie durchwirken und verbinden die folgenden Kapitel auf der Suche nach widerständigen Praktiken: ANIMAL REMINDER erscheinen in der Liebe, in Verwandtschaften, bei der Reproduktion, in Architekturen, als Abjekte und Monster. Sie sind trans*, sie atmen und sind belebt. Ausgehend von der Ordnung der Lebewesen als nur eine mögliche von vielen, werde ich die Möglich- und Wirklichkeiten der Transformation sozialer Beziehungen und deren Bedingungen erforschen. Interdependenzen zwischen menschlichen und speziesübergreifenden Beziehungen werde ich fortlaufend bespiegeln. Mit dieser Arbeit erhebe ich keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit, ihre Form der künstlerischen Recherche ist unabgeschlossen und durchlässig. Mein Umgang mit Sprache, Verknüpfung und Übersetzung ist spielerisch und beharrt auf ebendieser Unabgeschlossenheit. Jack Halberstam benutzt in seinen* Arbeiten den Asterisk nicht zur Markierung eines alternierenden Geschlechts, sondern drückt damit die „prinzipielle Konstruiertheit und Instabilität jeglicher (Geschlechts-)Identität“ (Halberstam 2021: 10) aus. „Trans* sei demnach weder als ein Seinszustand noch als ein zielgerichteter Übergang zu verstehen, sondern als genuine Unabgeschlossenheit ungewisser Seinsweisen, wie – aus einer queer-dekonstruktiven Perspektive – in letzter Konsequenz alle Identitäten betrachtet werden müssen.“ (Ebd.: 11) So bestand laut Halberstam auch der Nutzen des Begriffs queer nie darin, etwas zu beschreiben: „Queer sollte nie ein Begriff sein, mit dem sich jemand vollständig identifiziert, den jemand für sich in Anspruch nimmt […] Die Intention war vielmehr, mit queer ein kritisches Verhältnis zu Identität auszudrücken.“ (Halberstam 2007: 30) Dieses kritische Verhältnis ist für ANIMAL REMINDER wesentlich. Queere Diskurse sind in einer zweiten Hinsicht für diese Arbeit von Bedeutung: So wie das Tier als Prototyp für die Konstruktion von Andersartigkeit dient(e), können die Verhandlungen am Geschlecht als beispielhaft für die kulturelle Tradierung des Verhältnisses von Norm und Tatsache gelesen werden (Vgl. Laboria Cuboniks 2015: 22). Dieses Verhältnis ist laut Laboria Cuboniks nie festgelegt, sondern der unendlichen Aufgabe des Entwirrens unterlegen (Vgl. Ebd.: 28). Laboria Cuboniks (2015): „Xenofeminismus – Eine Politik für die Entfremdung“. In: Armen Avanessian, Helen Hester (Hg.): Dea Ex Machina. Merve Verlag Berlin Halberstam, Jack (2021): Trans*Positionen zu Geschlecht und Architektur. Anna Babka, Rosemarie Brucher (Hg.), Verlag Turia+r Kant Wien Berlin:Vorwort DELTA FIKTIVE TIERE* ANIMAL LOVERS [CON]FUSION ARCHITEKTUREN WE HAVE NEVER BEEN HUMAN

Asian elephants utilize two chemical signals that have been described to function in reproduction: (1) (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (Z7-12:Ac) is released by females near ovulation, and (2) frontalin is released by males around the time of musth. Signaling theory posits that the concentration at which either compound is emitted should have implications for the response of the receiver, varying with factors such as sex and reproductive experience. Here, the objectives were to: (1) investigate the effect of concentration on receiver chemosensory behavior in an effort to identify detection thresholds and concentrations of maximum response for reproductively experienced or inexperienced male and female Asian elephants, and (2) characterize the broader behavioral impacts of each of these compounds in an effort for application as environmental enrichment in captive settings. Concentrations from 0.0 mM to 2.0 mM of both frontalin and Z7-12:Ac were bioassayed simultaneously with captive elephants housed at facilities across North America in two experiments: one that tested mid-range concentrations and a second that tested low and high concentrations. There was a general increase in chemosensory response with increasing concentration of both compounds regardless of sex or reproductive experience. Females exhibited a lower detection threshold for frontalin, and the opposite was true for males with Z7-12:Ac. Reproductive experience also influenced thresholds: inexperienced males had a higher threshold than experienced males for frontalin (the same was true for females), and experienced males were able to detect Z7-12:Ac samples as low as 10–7 mM. Aside from inexperienced males, all elephants responded maximally to the 1.0 mM samples of both compounds. Elephants exposed to mid-range concentrations of either compound showed no notable changes in behavior after application of the signals, although inexperienced males spent less time inactive and more time walking after frontalin bioassays, and inexperienced females foraged more after exposure to Z7-12:Ac. Interpreted together, this suggests that the concentration at which either compound is emitted has strong implications for chemosensory response based on the identity of the receiver in Asian elephants, although it is unclear whether these compounds have other behavioral effects that can be targeted for a goal-oriented olfactory enrichment program.

Individuals experience risk ubiquitously, but measuring risk taking is difficult. The balloon analogue risk task (BART) was developed in order to assess risk taking through having subjects press a key that accrues reward but also risk losing all reward with each press. In humans, greater responding in this task is associated with other maladaptive risk taking behaviors. The present research modeled this relationship in pigeons due to their previously shown propensity towards risk taking behavior. Experiment 1 used an unsignaled balloon task in which losing could only occur after 5 pecks. Results showed below optimal performance with greater pecks associated with faster acquisition of risk taking in the suboptimal choice task and evidence of modulation by delay discounting measures. Experiment 2 signaled the number of pecks with colors and tested multiple hoppers as a reinforcement modality to increase performance. Results showed only signaling the number of pecks improved performance and was related to performance in the high risk BART task. Both the low and high risk variants were associated with slower suboptimal choice acquisition and again had evidence of modulation by delay discounting measures. Potential shared underlying mechanisms are discussed.

<p>“American Manna: Religious Responses to the American Industrial Food System” is an investigation of the religious complexity present in religious food reform movements. I conducted ethnographic fieldwork at four field sites. These field sites are a Jewish organic vegetable farm where the farmers begin their days with meditation, a Christian raw vegan diet center run by Messianic Jews, a Christian family that raises their cattle on pastures and sends them to a halal processing plant for slaughter, and a Jewish farm where Christian and Buddhist farm staff helped to implement shmita, the biblical agricultural sabbatical year. </p><p>The religious people of America do not exist in neatly bound silos, so in my research I move with the religious people to the spaces that are less clearly defined as “Christian” or “Jewish.” I study religious food reformers within the framework of what I have termed “free-range religion” because they organize in groups outside the traditional religious organizational structures. My argument regarding free-range religion has three parts. I show that (1) perceived injustices within the American industrial food system have motivated some religious people to take action; (2) that when they do, they direct their efforts against the American food industry, and tend to do so outside traditional religious institutions; and finally, (3) in creating alternatives to the American food industry, religious people engage in inter-religious and extra-religious activism. </p><p>Chapter 1 serves as the introduction, literature review, and methodology overview. Chapter 2 focuses on the food-centered Judaism at the Adamah Environmental Fellowship at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT. In Chapter 3, I discuss the Hallelujah Diet as prescriptive literature and as it is put into practice at the Hallelujah Diet Retreat Center in Lake Lure, NC. Chapter 4 follows cows as they move from the grassy hills of Baldwin Family Farms in Yanceyville, NC to the meat counter at Whole Foods Markets. In Chapter 5, I consider the shmita year, the biblical agricultural sabbatical practice that was reimagined and implemented at Pearlstone Center in Baltimore, MD during 2014-2015. Chapter 6 will conclude this dissertation with a discussion of where religious food reform has been, where it is now, and a glimpse of what the future holds.</p> / Dissertation

<p>This dissertation explores how the contemporary Anglophone novel asks its readers to imagine and respond to disposable life as it emerges in our present-day biopolitical landscape. As the project frames it, disposable life is not just life that is disposed of; it is life whose disposal is routine and unremarkable, even socially and legally sanctioned for such purposes as human consumption, scientific knowledge-production, and economic and political gain. In the novels considered, disposability is tied to excess--to the "too many" who cannot be counted, much less individuated on a case-by-case basis. </p><p>This project argues that the contemporary novel forces a global readership to confront the mechanisms of devaluing life that are part of everyday existence. And while the factory-farmed animal serves as the example of disposable life par excellence, this project frames disposability as a form of normalized violence that has the power to operate across species lines to affect the human as well. Accordingly, each chapter examines the contemporary condition of disposability via a different figure of disposable life: the nonhuman (the animal in J. M. Coetzee's The Lives of Animals and Disgrace), the replicated human (the clone in David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go), the woman (in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy), and the postcolonial subject (the victim of industrial disaster in Indra Sinha's Animal's People and political violence in Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost). Chapter by chapter, the dissertation demonstrates how the contemporary novel both exposes the logic and operations of disposability, and, by mobilizing literary techniques like intertextual play and uncanny narration, offers up a set of distinctively literary solutions to it. </p><p>The dissertation argues that the contemporary novel disrupts the workings of disposability by teaching its audience to read differently--whether, for instance, by destabilizing the reader's sense of mastery over the text or by effecting paradigm shifts in the ethical frameworks the reader brings to bear on the encounter with the literary work. Taken together, the novels discussed in this dissertation move their readership away from a sympathetic imagination based on the potential substitutability of the self for the other and toward a form of readerly engagement that insists on preserving the other's irreducible difference. Ultimately, this project argues, these modes of reading bring those so-called disposable lives, which are abjected by dominant social, economic, and political frameworks, squarely back into the realm of ethical consideration.</p> / Dissertation

Twenty naïve male and female hooded rats were randomly divided into four groups of five subjects each. The Observe Helpless group was allowed to observe Helpless subjects receive signaled, inescapable electric shock, after which they were tested for effective escape response acquisition. Subjects in the Observe Naïve group were allowed to observe Naïve subjects being given escape-avoidance training using signaled presentations of electric shock, after which the Observe Helpless group was given similar escape-avoidance training. Results indicate that there were significant differences in the acquisition of effective escape responses between the Observe Helpless group and the other two groups. Possible explanations for these differences, as well as implications for further research, are discussed.

Amisulpride, a benzamide derivative, is an atypical antipsychotic drug used to treat both schizophrenia and depression. Amisulpride is a selective antagonist at dopamine D2 and D3 receptors and at serotonin 5-HT2B and 5-HT7 receptors and displays an atypical clinical profile with reduced extrapyramidal motor effects. The drug has a chiral center and is a mixture of two optical isomers: (S)-amisulpride and (R)-amisulpride. The present study used a two-lever drug discrimination assay to allow a direct comparison between amisulpride and its two isomers. Additionally, substitution testing was conducted with the typical antipsychotics, atypical antipsychotics, antidepressants, the anxiolytic chlordiazepoxide, several benzamide derivatives, and selective ligands with receptor mechanisms relevant to amisulpride. C57BL/6 mice were trained to discriminate 10 mg/kg rac-amisulpride from vehicle in a two-lever drug discrimination task for food reinforcement in an average of 35.7 sessions (range 6-89). The amisulpride dose-response curve (0.078 – 10.0 mg/kg) yielded an ED50 = 0.64 mg/kg, 95% CI [.47, 0.84 mg/kg]. The isomers fully substituted for amisulpride with a significant left-ward shift in the dose-response curve for (S)-amisulpride as compared to rac-amisulpride and (R)-amisulpride. The benzamide derivatives sulpiride and the (S)-sulpiride isomer fully substituted for amisulpride; tiapride produced partial substitution (76.4% DLR); none of the other tested drugs substituted for rac-amisulpride’s discriminative stimulus. These results showed that the rac-amisulpride stimulus was readily acquired in C57BL/6 mice, and that it has a unique and robust discriminative stimulus that is dose-dependent, time-dependent and stereoselective and is not shared with other antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs.

This thesis argues for a coherent theory of the animal in the written and visual works of the German Expressionist painter, Franz Marc. By contextualizing Marc’s animal theory within the history of animal studies, this thesis will analyze how Marc’s animal theory corresponds with several central concepts within this field. One of these concepts—a theory of animal death—is central to the artist’s greater theory of the animal and to the analysis this thesis provides. In examining Marc’s theory of animal death, the following work will propose that the artist’s theory of animal spirituality is his greatest legacy within the field of animal theory.

In 1955, American artist Dorothea Tanning abandoned her figurative Surrealist renderings of dream-like scenarios in favor of a complexly abstract and fragmented style of painting. With few exceptions, the ways in which Tanning’s later works function independently of her earlier paintings tends to be downplayed in the scholarship on her oeuvre. Equally sparse is the scholarship on Tanning’s dog imagery, which pervades her oeuvre but becomes most apparent in her later phase. This thesis seeks to shift attention toward Tanning’s later abstract paintings; it also seeks to fill the gap in scholarship on Tanning’s dogs. Specifically, through the study of five Tanning paintings from the late 1950s and 1960s, with the theoretical aid of Deleuze and Guattari’s conception of the becoming-animal, this thesis will investigate how Tanning’s post-1955 paintings create and promote new ways for viewers to think about the relations between humans and animals in the human-dominated modern world.