Animal Studies considers the cultural implications of the ways we dwell with non-humans. This interdisciplinary group will look at foundational and recent work in this subfield of cultural studies as a starting point for building cross-disciplinary, cross-campus research on animals which would fundamentally include an arts and humanities perspective. Key questions for the group are how animals matter, which animals, and who decides? Additional questions include how animals are managed and represented and what is lost in current configurations?
The IHR American Studies research cluster brings together American Studies scholars to discuss the interdisciplinary field of American Studies and how it engages in understanding the various meanings of the United States as a nation state, an empire, a collectivity of diverse communities, an ideological construction, a producer of popular ideas and images that circulate globally, and a nation that has considerable influence worldwide. Participants will discuss key concepts in American Studies and how these concepts influence their own research and methodologies.
This research cluster will establish at ASU one of the foremost interdisciplinary US research communities in the humanities focused on energy. It will build the foundations and capacity to support long-term excellence in humanities research and scholarship and to secure significant external funding support. Within its work, it will focus on a number of key themes, each seeking to identify how the humanities can help illuminate and inform the discussion and design of future human communities and the energy systems at their heart.
As the Jenny Norton 2014-15 IHR Research Cluster we will plan and implement a research symposium next year on "Gendering Psychopathology and Contagion." This will be an inclusive, transdisciplinary examination on the complicated topics of madness, contagion, pathology, and the gendered aspects of "disorders." The symposium will be a springboard to working on an edited collection based on the work presented at ASU West campus. This event is currently scheduled for Friday, October 23, 2015 and will include researchers both within and outside of the ASU community, including u
This research cluster builds on the successful work we have been doing in our 2014-2015 American Studies research cluster, through a new focus on making connections between the humanities and social sciences. The American Studies MA program will welcome our first cohort of students this fall, and the new iteration of the research cluster will be valuable in terms of building a vibrant intellectual community in this field.
Image credit: © Matt Garcia