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I am a scholar, activist and doctoral student in pursuit of a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. My research investigates the representation of domestic and exotic animals in early modern British art by analyzing paintings and illustrations within the broader context of debates on the topic of animal equality in terms of their status and capacity for reason that were occurring at this time in other disciplines, including literature and philosophy. I am particularly interested in the representation of animal ethics, as well as the depiction of animal individuality and consciousness within the arts. My interdisciplinary research involves a methodology of discourse analysis through a posthumanist perspective to offer a unique social perspective and new narratives about animals in early modern British visual culture that challenge traditional humanist ideologies to offer an ethical study of the historical animal.

I completed my Master’s degree at the University of Regina in Interdisciplinary Studies in Spring 2019. My thesis, “Unconventionality in Thomas Gainsborough’s Portrait of Henry Scott: Rethinking the Representation of Dogs as Rational Subjects in Eighteenth-Century British Portraiture,” supervised by Dr. Francesco Freddolini and Dr. Randal Rogers, demonstrated how the dog in Thomas Gainsborough’s (1727-1788) portrait of Henry Scott, Third Duke of Buccleuch (c.1770) is portrayed with rationality and agency, which elevates the dog to a near-equal human status.

Australasian Animal Studies Association (AASA) Online Conference

University of Sydney
Nov 30 2021 To Dec 02 2021