Christchurch to host AASA Conference in 2019

Annie Potts addressing the audience

Christchurch has won an international bid to host the Australasian Animal Studies Association (AASA) Conference in July 2019, the first time it will be held in New Zealand.

To be held at the University of Canterbury, the conference is set to bring at least 250 animal experts to Christchurch from all over the world.

Annie Potts addressing the audience

The successful bid was presented by associate professor Annie Potts, who along with associate professor Philip Armstrong, is a co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies at the University of Canterbury, an interdisciplinary research focusing on the study of human relationships with other species.

Potts says the 2019 AASA conference in New Zealand will have a strong emphasis on Maori and other indigenous perspectives on human-animal relations.

“We will also cover such diverse subjects as animals in popular culture, the link between social violence and animal abuse, the rise of veganism worldwide, and the demonisation of introduced animals in Aotearoa and elsewhere,” Potts said.

ChristchurchNZ Convention Bureau and Tourism New Zealand Business Events, through its Conference Assistance Programme, assisted the Canterbury team to produce the winning bid.

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