Sheffield Animal Studies Research Centre (ShARC)

Description

Animal Studies, an interdisciplinary academic field, investigates nonhuman animals and human-animal relationships. It integrates the arts, humanities, and social sciences, along with select branches of life sciences.

Over the past decade and a half, Animal Studies has seen consistent growth in conferences, specialised journal issues, book publications, and academic courses and programmes. The University of Sheffield is recognised as a leading institution in this area, with its Millennial Animals conference (2000) identified by the Papers of the Modern Language Association as a cornerstone in the field. At Sheffield, research is conducted across several disciplines including literature, film, performance, philosophy, music, history, archaeology, politics, sociology, geography, and law.

Sheffield is distinct in having a considerable number of distinguished scholars in various disciplinary areas of Animal Studies. This has led to the establishment of the Sheffield Animal Studies Research Centre (ShARC), a network of scholars and students that has hosted numerous speakers, reading groups, and events, including a meeting of the British Animal Studies Network.

A central research expertise in ShARC is the political and cultural representation of animals, although the Centre’s remit extends to any qualitative understanding of animal life and human-animal relations. The Sheffield Animal Studies Research Centre aims to become a global leader in research that examines nonhuman animals and human-animal relations within the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. ShARC intends to showcase Sheffield's international excellence in Animal Studies, provide a supportive and challenging research environment, facilitate networking and collaborative opportunities for larger research projects, encourage dialogue around the value of animal life, and explore further institutional investment in the field.

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No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

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University of Sheffield
Sheffield