Thinking Outside the Cage
Towards a Nonspeciesist Paradigm for Scientific Research
A Conference to be held at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
March 27-28, 2014
This conference is organized by the Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (APPLE) program at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.
Thursday March 27th (evening) and Friday March 28th (all day)
Conference Aims
Organizers of this conference are committed to a non-speciesist research ethics. Such an ethics denies that humans have a right to use sentient animals as subjects of harmful research for our benefit, and therefore requires the same legal and regulatory safeguards regarding the use of animal subjects in research as for the use of human subjects. Questions regarding the treatment of animals within academic institutions are matters of public responsibility, and should be subject to democratic deliberation by the larger community.
This is a long-term goal, and the conference is intended to encourage critical reflection on the limits of existing regulations, and to inspire creative thinking about alternative frameworks and effective avenues to change.
Leading scientists, public policy experts, humane educators, legal scholars and political theorists will help identify the opportunities and challenges involved in pursuing a new ethical, legal and political framework regarding animals in research.
Schedule
Thursday March 27, 2014
PUBLIC EVENT: lecture and film screening – no charge and no registration necessary
7:00 : Keynote Addressby John Gluck (Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University).
8:15 pm: Film Screening + Q&A with filmmaker Karol Orzechowski : Maximum Tolerated Dose (award winning documentary offering “a look inside modern animal experimentation with the animals who lived through it, and the people who walked away”)
Friday March 28, 2014
CONFERENCE: Registration required – please click here for conference registration.
From Animal “Models” to Animal “Subjects”– Introducing the Nonhuman Members of the Queen’s Community
9:00 : Welcome by conference organizers, followed by brief overview of existing research framework and practices at Queen’s University
9:25 : TBA by Gloria Grow, Fauna Foundation, Chambly, Quebec.
10:15 : Alternatives to the Use of Animals in Scientific Research and Education
Chair: Anne Innis Dagg (Independent Studies Program, University of Waterloo)
“Animal Research: Sentience and the Double Standard” by Jonathan Balcombe (Animal Studies, Humane Society University).
TBA by Olivier Berreville (Scientific advisor, Canadians for the Ethical Treatment of Farm Animals)
1:15 : Democratic Governance and Ethical Oversight for Animal Research Subjects – Part 1
Chair: Zipporah Weisberg (Philosophy, Queen’s)
“The Politics of Animal Experimentation: Lessons From the UK” by Dan Lyons (Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, and the Centre for Animals and Social Justice)
TBA by Vaughan Black (Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University)
3:15 – 5:00 pm: Democratic Governance and Ethical Oversight for Animal Research Subjects – Part 2
Chair: Will Kymlicka (Philosophy, Queen’s)
TBA by Elisabeth Ormandy (Animal Welfare Program, University of British Columbia)
TBA by Laura Janara (Politic Science, University of British Columbia)
FOR MORE INFO ON SPEAKERS AND FOR UPDATED SCHEDULE, VISIT THE WEBSITE CONFERENCE.