Hallie Abelman (she/they) is a third year Ph.D. student in American Studies at the University of Iowa. Their research revolves around tactile representations of animals and the ways that we perform and move in their presence. Hallie comes to Iowa with a deep commitment to ecological theatre and the ways it can be used to de-legitimize renderings of animals that perpetuate racist or ableist practices and ideologies. They hold bachelor's degrees in Anthropology and Community Health from Tufts University (2014), an MFA in “illness arts” from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (NL), and a Performance Studies MA from NYU Tisch. Before moving to Iowa, Hallie worked as the studio manager for the Dutch artist Melanie Bonajo and the graduate research assistant to the ecological-theatre scholar Una Chaudhuri. Hallie was proud to become a founding member of the North American Association for Critical Animal Studies in 2019.

Research Interests: 

• the commodification of animals 
• disability aesthetics 
• disabling environments
• multispecies justice
• decarceration

Publications: 

• "Chapter 10: Cripping Mad Cow Disease" in Disability and Animality: Crip Perspectives in Critical Animal Studies (2021) edited By Stephanie Jenkins, Kelly Struthers Montford, Chloë Taylor. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003014270

Courses Taught at Iowa: 

• Understanding American Cultures
• Diversity in American Culture
• Sport and Media (TA)