This semester we are proud to announce the launch of the Vienna Animal Studies' Visiting Lecture Series. Unlike the Winter and Summer Lecture Series that aim to highlight the work of scholars based in Vienna and foster networking and collaboration, the Visiting Lecture Series provides opportunities to scholars who are visiting the city to showcase their work. We start off this initiative on the 19th of November with a fascinating talk by Dr Barbara Holthus on the multifacete

Dr. Judith Benz-Schwarzburg gives a lecture on virtual animals at the Immersium in Vienna (Photo Credit: Oliver Hirtenfelder) On the 8th of October 2025 the Vienna Animal Studies group hosted its largest lecture yet. Held within the impressive in Immersium in Vienna Dr. Judith Benz-Schwarzburg, a Senior Researcher in Animal Ethics and Animal Cognition at the Messerli Research Institute, talked to us about the ethics of digitally representing animals. The event started with a

We are proud to announce the speakers for our Winter Lecture Series including lectures by scholars based in Vienna who are working in the...

More than twenty people gathered on the 11th of June 2025 to hear Dr Carlo Salzani talk on the development of the modern zoo. Focusing on Schönbrunn Zoo, Dr Salzani used Foucault's models of power as a theoretical grid to argue that ‘the zoo’ and ‘the prison’ are expressions of the same disciplinary matrix.

On the evening of May 14th, the Vienna Animal Studies (VAS) group hosted a lecture by Dr. Samuel Camenzind of the University of Vienna. His talk, titled “Genetic Pain Surgery with Molecular Scissors,” presented the questions of ethics and science of genetic pain disenhancement in animals.

Dr Claudia Hirtenfelder answers some questions about urban animal studies and the connections between animals and cities.

On the 12th of March 2025 Dr Doris Schneeberger discussed her recently published book Envisioning a Better Future for Nonhuman Animals.