DeVries to speak at MU about ‘Animals, Ethics, Books and Movies’

If you take a closer, scholarly look at how animals are represented in books and movies, you are likely to see Zootopia or Black Beauty in a whole new light.

Scott DeVries, who teaches Spanish and Spanish-American literature in the Manchester University Department of Modern Languages, will speak April 20 about well-known examples of representations of animals and explain the way in which animal studies as a critical approach might be applied to them.

Animal studies is an emerging field that examines such topics as animal rights and sentience, and critical animal studies goes further, challenging the elemental distinction between the terms “human” and “animal.”

“Animals, Ethics, Books and Movies” is offered at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20 in Cordier Auditorium on the North Manchester campus. It is free and open to the public.

Because the field of animal studies is unfamiliar to many, DeVries will review its basic positions and touch on its more radical ideas. He will also use examples from Latin American literature to demonstrate that the animal studies approach can be applied to a variety of texts from world literature.

The event is sponsored by the MU Values, Ideas and the Arts Committee, the Modern Languages Department and the Beulah E. Book Lecture Series. The VIA series at Manchester is designed to offer academic credit to undergraduate students who, through the process, gain cultural exposure, artistic experiences and intellectual enrichment.

About Manchester University
Manchester University, with campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., offers more than 60 areas of academic study to 1,600 students in undergraduate programs, a Master of Athletic Training, a Master of Pharmacogenomics and a four-year professional Doctor of Pharmacy.  Learn more about the private, northern Indiana school at www.manchester.edu.

April 2017