[an error occurred while processing this directive]

New Book by Liberal Studies Professor Evaluates the Use of Animals in Entertainment

Teresa Lloro

Some of the most popular attractions in California include zoos and amusement parks that use animals as a form of entertainment. In her new book, “Animal Edutainment in a Neoliberal Era: Politics, Pedagogy, and Practice in Contemporary Aquarium,” Associate Professor Teresa Lloro in the Department of Liberal Studies examines the politics of teaching and learning about animals at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.  

In her book, Lloro participates in fieldwork by observing human-animal interactions at the aquarium and conducts extensive interviews with aquarium staff and visitors to uncover how neoliberal ideologies at different levels, from local to global, influence aquarium decision-making and practices.  

“First and foremost, I want fellow educational researchers to take seriously the lives of animals in learning spaces,” she said. “So often they are treated as objects, rather than as subjects, in their own right with emotions, needs and capacities. I also want any folks on the practical side of informal learning like educators, interpreters and even animal care specialists, to reconsider some of the practices they embrace. The history of zoos and aquariums, like many institutions in the United States, is deeply tied to legacies of colonialism and imperialism. The remnants of these oppressive ways of thinking still shape zoos and aquariums in important and overlooked ways. I think it’s time we substantially reform them.”  

Lloro said her new book draws upon her dissertation on teaching and learning about animals in informal learning environments. It also supports her first book, “Animals in Environmental Education: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Curriculum and Pedagogy,” which is an edited collection that focuses on animals in environmental education, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives.  

“I became interested in the politics of teaching and learning more generally, which is often overlooked in much of the educational research literature,” she said. “For my dissertation, I wanted to explore sustainability issues addressed in the informal learning environment, with a particular focus on the political lives of aquarium educators and the animals with whom they teach. After the dissertation, I was excited to turn the project into a book to reach a wider audience of my academic peers.” 

In a review by Margo De Mello, program director at the Animals and Society Institute, she called the book a welcome and needed addition to the works on the uses on animals in entertainment and education. “Drawing on the author’s ethnographic work among people and animals who interact at a public aquarium, Animals in Edutainment in a Neoliberal Era uncovers a number of uncomfortable truths inherent in our use of animals, and suggests some new ways in which we might move forward.”  

After reading this book, Lloro said it might be difficult to look at zoos and aquariums the same way. “You may not want to go to them anymore, mostly because my book makes people realize how much these institutions are actually for us, the people who visit them, and not for the animals.” 

“Animal Edutainment in a Neoliberal Era” is available wherever books are sold.  

Lloro has been teaching in CEIS since 2015. She earned her doctorate degree in education, society, and culture from the University of California, Riverside. She teaches courses on critical food studies, natural sciences, coalition building and more. She has authored a number of publications on the intersections of critical animal studies, food studies and environmental education. She is also the recipient of a $20,000 California Humanities Grant for her work on food justice issues.  

For more information about her publications, visit her faculty page

[an error occurred while processing this directive]