Reading Zoos in the Age of the Anthropocene Workshop 4: Exhibition – Curation – Decolonization 10–12 November, 2021 Utrecht University, Netherlands [Online via Zoom] In the context of my research project, “Reading Zoos in the Age of the Anthropocene”, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), I invite scholars, including advanced PhD students and early-career…

Onze literaire erfenis legt een behoefte aan nieuwe mens-dierrelaties bloot Literatuurwetenschapper Kári Driscoll ziet onze relatie met de planeet langzaam veranderen – door te kijken naar dieren in boeken. “We zien dieren vaak als metaforen voor de mens. Zeker in boeken. Op school leer je om dierenverhalen te interpreteren alsof ze eigenlijk over mensen gaan,…

In February, I was interviewed for National Geographic about my research into the figure of the Zoo in the Anthropocene: “Through mass-extinction and global climate change our image of the human–animal relationship is changing. In my research I explore how these changes are reflected in the representation of zoos in literature and film. What interests me…

This coming Wednesday, 27 May, I will be speaking to the members of SV Euphorion, the Utrecht University Literary Studies students’ association, about my zoo research, specifically about the trope of the ‘zoo-break’, i.e. the breakdown of the barrier between inside and outside the cage, which has become the dominant mode of representing zoos over…

I will be speaking at the annual RMA History Graduate Student Conference, which is entitled “An Inconvenient Conference? — Interdisciplinary and New Approaches to the Environment and History.” My talk is entitled “‘Kein Welt’: Reading Rilke’s Panther in the Anthropocene.” More information is available on the event’s Facebook page.

The third and final Reading Zoos workshop was due to be held on April 1–3. In light of the rapidly escalating coronavirus situation, the workshop has been cancelled, or rather, postponed until 28–30 October 28–30. Further details to follow.

Reading Zoos in the Age of the Anthropocene Workshop 3: Extinction – Conservation – Resurrection 1–3 April, 2020 Utrecht University, Netherlands In the context of my ongoing research project, “Reading Zoos in the Age of the Anthropocene”, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), I invite scholars, including advanced PhD students and early-career academics, as…

On 27 November, I will be giving a talk on zoos and zoopoetics at the Goethe University in Frankfurt entitled “‘Das Zeugnis einer innerlichen Beschäftigung’, oder: Was heißt zoopoetisch lesen?”

On 5 December, I will be giving a lecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, as part of the Department of Visual Cultures’ autumn 2019 public programme, which is entitled Living Extinctions. I will be talking about the motif of the zoo in wartime and its bio- and zoo-political implications for the cultural imaginary surrounding climate change…

Following the first workshop on “War/Memory” as part of the research project Reading Zoos in the Age of the Anthropocene, the second workshop on “Captivity/Escape” will take place on 7 – 9 November, 2019 at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. The workshop will feature keynote presentations by Thijs de Zeeuw and Lori Gruen. I invite…