Linda Kalof

Professor of Sociology; Director of Animal Studies at MSU

Linda Kalof is Professor of Sociology and Director of MSU’s interdisciplinary graduate specialization in Animal Studies:  Social Science & Humanities Perspectives. She has published more than 40 articles and book chapters and ten books including Making Animal Meaning (MSU Press, 2011), A Cultural History of the Human Body in the Middle Ages (Berg 2010), A Cultural History of the Human Body in the Renaissance (Berg 2010), Introduction to Social Statistics (Wiley/Blackwell, 2009), Essentials of Social Research (McGraw-Hill 2008), Looking at Animals in Human History (University of Chicago/Reaktion 2007),  A Cultural History of Animals in Antiquity (Berg 2007), The Animals Reader (Berg 2007), The Earthscan Reader in Environmental Values (Earthscan 2005), and Evaluating Social Science Research (Oxford University Press 1996).  Kalof served as General Editor for the multi-volume A Cultural History of Animals and A Cultural History of the Human Body, and she is currently editing A Cultural History of Women and The Animal Turn.  She has received outstanding teaching awards at each of the three universities where she has held tenure (SUNY Plattsburgh 1995, George Mason University 2001 and Michigan State University 2011) and two outstanding scholarship awards (the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title for A Cultural History of Animals 2008 and the ASA Outstanding Paper Award from the Animals & Society Section 2010).  She was named a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics in 2008; appointed to the Advisory Board for the Detroit Zoo’s Center for Zoo Animal Welfare in 2010; serves as a consulting editor for the Journal of Animal Ethics, Humanimalia and Antennae; and is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in the World.  Her primary research focus is on the cultural representations of humans and other animals.

Research Interests

• Visual Sociology
• Animals & Society, Environmental Values

Areas of Specialization: Environment

Subareas: Animals, Culture

Recent Publications

Kalof, Linda and Georgina M. Montgomery (eds.) 2011. Making Animal Meaning. MSU Press

Thompson, Paul B., Michael Appleby, Lawrence Busch, Linda Kalof, Mara Miele, Bailey F. Norwood, Edward Pajor. 2011. Values and Public Acceptability Dimensions of Sustainable Egg Production. Poultry Science 90, 2097-2109.

More Publications

Awards and Honors

Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, 2011

Featured Faculty Author, Michigan State University Library, 2011

Outstanding Paper Award, Animals & Society Section, American Sociological Association, 2010

Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title for A Cultural History of Animals, Six Volume Book Series, 2008 (Vol 1, Cultural History of Animals in Antiquity)

Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, 2008-2011

Faculty Recognition for Inspired Learning, Residence Life, Michigan State University, 2008

University Teaching Excellence Award, 2001, George Mason University

Outstanding Professor of the Year, 1995, Alpha Kappa Delta Honorary Society, SUNY Plattsburgh