So, here’s a call for papers that is not at all about animals — or at least the people putting out the call don’t know it is yet. Those are actually my favorite types of academic opportunity — a way to reach an audience that may well be quite unfamiliar with these issues.
Anyway, the conference for which the papers are sought is being held by the American Men’s Studies Association and is entitled “Rethinking Iberian Masculinities.” It sounds really interesting — here’s a bit of the description:
[W]e welcome papers that investigate both the construction and de-construction of masculinity in Iberian cultures and literatures, from any genre and historical period, from different disciplines (literary studies, film studies, art, religion, visual culture, photography, etc.) and methodological perspectives (masculinity studies, feminist theory, queer studies, cultural studies, etc.). We are particularly interested in re-visions of Iberian masculinities, especially as they are manifested in Catalonia, the Basque country, and Galicia, in non-Christian cultures in the Iberian Peninsula, and in the Americas, including Latino cultures in the U.S. and Canada.
The obvious connection between the subject of this conference and animals is the role in Spanish culture of bullfighting, one of the most iconically masculine activities imaginable. That that role is evolving in dramatic ways is evidenced most clearly by the recent ban in Catalonia. However, I am sure there are many other topics as well, given the links between animal [ab]use and images of masculinity present in virtually every culture.