With the university’s move to virtual classes the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 18, a virtual option also has been added for the Portable Cow symposium sessions from 9 a.m.–noon Feb. 18. You can attend in person in the Launch Pad, room 4250 Student Innovation Center, or join via Webex.

Supported by a grant from the ISU Center for the Arts and Humanities and co-organized by Emily Morgan, associate professor of art history, and international scholars Camille Bellet and Liz Hingley, the “Portable Cow” symposium and workshops will take place Feb. 18–20 at the College of Design and at the Student Innovation Center. An exhibition of the same name will run from Feb. 18–28 in the College of Design’s Gallery 181, with a public reception from 5:30–7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20.

“Portable Cow” employs posthumanist perspectives to deepen understanding of the lived experiences of nonhuman animals, especially farmed animals, and to re-examine human-animal relationships in farming contexts. The symposium aims to engage Iowa State and the greater Ames communities in conversation, incorporating approaches from the arts, humanities and sciences to consider farmer-cow relationships through historical, ethnographic and creative lenses.