Claudia speaks to Lauren Corman about interspecies subjectivity unpacking what subjectivity itself could mean and why it is so important to consider how it is shaped by species. They reflect on some of the threads scholars need to hold in tension when trying to understand experience and using such theoretically dense concepts.
Date recorded: 6 November 2020
Dr. Lauren Corman is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Brock University. Hired as the first professor to specialize in critical animal studies, Lauren teaches about animals and contemporary social theory. Prior to Brock, Lauren hosted the Animal Voices radio show, an animal advocacy program dedicated to social justice – which continued to be hosted by collective of scholars when she departed in X. Inspired by her mentors in Environmental Studies (Drs. Leesa Fawcett, Connie Russell, and Cate Sandilands), Lauren continues to interrogate “the question of the animal(s)” from intersectional, decolonial, and anti-capitalist perspectives. Her current foci include trauma, sociality, and interspecies subjectivity. Lauren is the co-editor of Animal Subjects 2.0., recently co-authored a popular piece with Darren Chang titled From Wet Markets to Meatpacking: Why Animal Advocacy Fails without Anti-Racism, contributed a chapter to the book Colonialism and animality, limitation in critical animal studies and postcolonial thought edited by Kelly Struthers Montford, Chloë Taylor, and is working on a book about the complex histories of particularly vilified animals. Find Lauren on Twitter (@LaurenCorman).
Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. Connect with her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).
Featured: The Companion Species Manifesto by Donna Haraway; Under Western eyes: Feminist scholarship and colonial discourses by Chandra Mohanty; Encounters with Animal Minds by Barbara Smuts; Dangerous Crossings by Claire Jean Kim; Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation by Sunaura Taylor; Beyond Boundaries: Humans and Animals by Barbara Noske.
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast, Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, and Jeremy John (Website) for the logo.
The Animal Turn is part of the iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on Twitter, and Instagram
Join PhD Candidate Claudia Hirtenfelder as she learns about important concepts in Animal Studies. Season 1 focuses on Animals and the Law.
Claudia chats with Kathryn Gillespie about the ways in which the geography in general and the concept of intimate geography in particular aid in generating knowledge about animals’ experiences. The concept is both theoretically and methodologically rich allowing for focus …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 3 November 2020
Gaming is one of the most consumed forms of media globally making it an omportant space from to explore human-animal relations. In this episode, media scholars Michael Rübsamen, Osvaldo Cleger, and Keung Yoon Bae discuss the interconnections of gaming, representation, …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 13 October 2025
In this episode we animals, power, and popular media. Emily Major, Debra Merskin, and Lu Liu help to think through how animals are manufactured as “pests” and “icons” in media and how those labels shape empathy, policy, and everyday cruelty …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 11 October 2025
