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Zohreh Baghban

Languages and Literature, De Montfort University

Thesis title:

Munching as if the More-than-Human Counted: Creative Writing, Bioethics and Net-Zero

My Creative Writing Practice Research PhD will produce a multimodal collection of short fiction to interrogate the nexus between what we eat, how we treat animals, and the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This PhD’s goal is to present a holistic understanding of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), more specifically goals 2, 12, and 13 in Climate Change, sustainable consumption, and food security. By focusing the discussion on the issues surrounding biodiversity and bioethics, I emphasise that a more sustainable future necessitates an understanding of Net Zero policy that moves beyond such simplistic perceptions that reducing meat consumption is enough to improve animals’ status and reduce GHG emissions. This PhD will provoke and produce a bio-ethical vision that critically scrutinises the lack of integration in existing Net Zero policy and will reinstate animal welfare as a key component within it. 

Research Area

  • Languages and Literature

Other Research Interests

  • Animal Studies 
  • Bioethics and Biopolitics 
  • Multimodality