57: Valentines Special!: Furry Fandom with Victoria Gersdorf

The Deal With Animals with Marika S. Bell

Valentine's Special! - Furry Fandom with Victoria Gersdorf

I chat with Victoria Gersdorf about her research around and discussions with those in the Furry Fandom Community. Its a fascinating and fun exploration into a subculture of love, life, and FUR.

Guest: Victoria grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah before moving to Helena, Montana to attend Carroll College. She has since graduated from Carroll with an undergraduate degree in anthrozoology, She is currently applying to sociology and anthrozoology master's programs.

She hopes to perform sociology and anthrozoology research on aspects of the furry community and how animals are used and perceived within the art of the furry community in order to express oneself and socialize and other topics involving fandom and animals and other subjects as a career in the future. Her paper "Gender Expression Using Fursonas in the Furry Community" which is an exploration of how fursonas allow members of the furry fandom to express and explore their gender identity in a community. Her research is currently under review and was presented at the 2022 ISAZ virtual conference.

Book Recommendation: The Snow Leopard and the Goat: Politics of Conservation in the Western Himalayas by Shafqat Hussain

Fur Science

Host: Marika completed her MA in Anthrozoology at the University of Exeter, UK in 2016 and upon moving back to the Seattle area of Washington state she joined the board of Homeward Pet Adoption Center. She also holds a University degree in Zoology (UW) and a CPDT-KA from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers.

Now, host of The Deal with Animals, she enjoys chatting with people who know a lot more than she does about the various research disciplines of Anthrozoology as well as authors, nonprofits, professionals, and enthusiasts!

Credits: The Deal With Animals is hosted by Marika. Music was composed by Kai Strandskov. Editing for this episode by Marika Bell

Recording and post production software by Zencastr and hosting provided by Anchor.

This Podcast is part of the IROAR Animals Podcasting Network

This podcast was produced on Historical Tribal Land of the Quinault Indian Nation and

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Anthrozoology as an International Practice- A Student Conference in Human0-Animal Studies

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