Marti Kheel, an important ecofeminist philosopher, died on November 19, 2011. “Finding a Niche for All Animals” will celebrate her life and continue her work. The conference will feature four panels devoted to the subjects of ecofeminist theory and practice, contextual moral veganism, activism and dialogue, and feminist ethics of care. The conference is being organized by Carol Adams and Lori Gruen. Confirmed speakers include Ralph Acampora, Batya Bauman, Chris Cuomo, Deane Curtin, Karen Davis, Josephine Donovan, Karen Emmerman, Greta Gaard, pattrice jones, lauren Ornelas, Rosemary Ruether, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan, Deborah Slicer, Kim Stallwood, and Richard Twine.
About Marti Kheel, Ph.D.
Marti Kheel brought active critical attention to standard approaches to other than human animal liberation philosophy by pointing out the overly rational and isolating perspective it so often takes. She focused her keen eye on environmental philosophers as well, including some ecofeminist philosophers, who while attending to whole systems and relations, generally ignored the lives of individual animals — other than human beings who have families and friends and who suffer horribly not only by our actions but through our willful neglect. Kheel’s scholarship drew on connections and brought out new possibilities for living more harmoniously with the movements of the natural world. Throughout her writing Kheel advocated a nonviolent, emotionally responsive, holistic, and nondominative ethic by which humans may live in harmony with nature and nonhuman creatures. Her life, like her work, was fully engaged; she didn’t just theorize about non-violence and care, but she lived and died by those values.
This conference is being co-sponsored and supported by:
Wesleyan Animal Studies, the College of the Environment, the Ethics in Society Project, the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, the Center for the Study of Public Life, and the Philosophy Department at Wesleyan. Other sponsors are the Animals and Society Institute, Feminists for Animal Rights, Arnold S. and Ellen Kheel Jacobs, AJ Jacobs, Jane Kheel Stanley and other members of the Kheel family, Carol Adams and other friends of Marti Kheel.