The 10th edition of the Lova International Summer School took place from 7–11 July 2025 in Amsterdam. This edition centred on the question Are animals a feminist issue? Under the theme Animals & Feminisms: Intersectionalities in More-Than-Human Worlds, the program explored the intertwined relations between gender, feminism, and human–animal studies. The event was organised by Dr. Irene Arends.
For five days, the fifteen participants, with seven different nationalities, engaged critically and creatively with questions of anthropocentrism, hierarchy, power relations, representation, and much more. Coming from a wide range of backgrounds—academics, artists, activists, lawyers, philosophers, urbanists, anthropologists, and linguists—they each brought their own understandings, worldviews, considerations, and positionalities to the discussions.
The entanglement of human animals and non-human animals was illuminated through presentations by Prof. Cloë Taylor, Prof. Janine Janssen, Dr. Clemens Driessen, Dr. Katinka Wijsman, Dr. Corey Lee Wrenn, Dr. Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez, Prof. Leonie Cornips, and pattrice jones. Workshops were led by Juel McNeilly, Merel Ligtelijn and Christine van Litsenburg, and Merel Hol.
The program covered a wide range of topics, including multispecies ethnography, feminist ethics of care, non-human sociolinguistics, vegan activism, urban entanglements, and sanctuary movements, alongside questions of agency and resistance, capitalism, and ecological justice.
We were kindly hosted by CEDLA, University of Amsterdam, and enjoyed delicious vegan lunches each day from various gems across the city.
