Animals and Ourselves

Kathy Merlock Jackson, a professor of media and communication at Virginia Wesleyan University, teaches courses in media studies and children’s culture. She is the author or editor of thirteen books and former editor of The Journal of American Culture. She has served as past president of both the American Culture Association and the Popular Culture Association. Kathy Shepherd Stolley is a professor of sociology at Virginia Wesleyan University, where her emphasis is applied sociology. She was the school’s first associate dean for innovative teaching and engaged learning. Her scholarship has appeared in various professional journals and she has authored or co-edited six books. Lisa Lyon Payne is a communication professor at Virginia Wesleyan University, where she focuses on journalism and public relations. She advises the student newspaper and is editor of College Media Review, the flagship journal of the College Media Association. She has authored or co-authored a book and over twenty book chapters and journal articles in the areas of college media, popular culture, crisis communication, reputation management and public relations theory development.

“Engaging collection of essays… This group of essays should make us think—about our values, our myths, and our assumed place within the animal kingdom. …recommended”—Choice

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction (Kathy Merlock Jackson, Lisa Lyon Payne and Kathy Shepherd Stolley)Part I. Representations: Images of Animals in MediaAnimal/Human Relations in Two Prairie Tales by L. Frank Baum (Mark I. West)Cultivating Conservation: Childhood and Animalhood in the Fiction of Ernest Thompson Seton (Martin Woodside)Mister Ed, 1960s Television and the Horse Who Was Not Just a Horse (Kathy Merlock Jackson)Blurred Laughter: How Disney and Pixar Animated Films Teach Children to Laugh Like Animals (Terry Lindvall)Surprisingly Human: Producing Nonhuman Selves for Human Entertainment (Candace Korasick)Fargo: Morality in the “Animal” Kingdom (Lynnette Porter)Beautiful Cockroaches and Featherless Birds: Anthropomorphism in Books for Latinx Children (Stacy ­Hoult-Saros)Friend or Food? The Limits of Anthropomorphism at Disney (Kristi Maxwell)Part II. Relationships: Interactions Between Humans and AnimalsFrom Trauma to Trust: The Convoluted Relationship Between Jews and Dogs Hadas Marcus and Tammy ­Bar-JosephNo Room in the Boat? Pets vs. People in Disaster Relief Efforts(Amy J. Lantinga)Mirrored Caregiving: Chronic Illness in the Human/Animal Household (Terri Kovach)I Told the Dog First: The Delicate Relationship Between Marginalized Youth and Animals (Jeffrey Jin and Katharine Wenocur)Japanese People Adore Their Animals (Jill S. Grigsby)The “Soul” of the Circus: What Animals Under the Big Top Continue to Teach Their Audiences (Mort Gamble)Part Iii. Reflections: Cultural Analysis of Human/Animal Blurring From Tusk to Tail: Understanding the Animal Attraction to College Mascots (Lisa Lyon Payne)Body Boundaries: Animal Body Adornment, Lifestyle Holism and Cosmetic Surgeries (Kathy Shepherd Stolley)Farewell, Flipper: Sending Dolphins Back to the Sea (Jay Alabaster)Horses in Hats, Frogs in Frocks (Elizabeth A. Larsen)Animals and the Law: Persons or Property? (George S. Jackson)The ­Cross-Cultural Animal: ­Human-Animal Interactions in American Study Abroad Marketing (Jennifer R. Auerbach and Jonathan Z. Friedman)Presenting One’s Self as a Furry: What Does This Mean? (Jackie Eller, Jacob Lax and Mary De La Torre)The Story of PARO, a Robotic Harp Seal Pup (Yoko Sakuma Crume)Selective BibliographyCamille McCutcheonAbout the ContributorsIndex