Dr. Alice Hovorka

I obtained my Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Geography from Queen’s University in 1994 and my Master of Arts in Geography from Carleton University in 1997. Following graduation I consulted on urban issues for CIDA and worked as an IDRC intern mainstreaming gender into urban agriculture projects.  I received my PhD in Geography from Clark University in 2003, which focused on gender and urban agriculture in Botswana. I joined the University of Guelph Department of Geography in 2003 as Assistant Professor and was promoted to Full Professor in 2014. In January 2015 I joined the Department of Geography and School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University.

Links:

• The Lives of Animals

Research Interests:

My research program broadly explores human-environment relationships and is theoretically informed by feminist, poststructuralist and posthumanist philosophical perspectives. I explore issues related to animal geographies, gender and environment, urban geography, and Southern Africa.

I currently explore how animals shape human society. We cannot understand human affairs and relations without recognizing the ways in which animals are wrapped up with social constructions, organizations and dynamics. How do we think about animals? Where do we put them and where do they belong? How do we interact with them? Are these human-animal relations good, bad, otherwise? What circumstances and experiences shape the lives of animals? Chickens, donkeys, cattle, wild dogs, elephants, and community dogs in Botswana serve as case studies exploring the positionality of animals as influential actors.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF 415 kB)