Dr. Seven Mattes

Seven Mattes

Seven Mattes, PhD (she/they), is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Integrative Studies at Michigan State University. Seven received a BA in Environmental Studies and Anthropology from Western Michigan University and a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Michigan State University. Working at the intersection of Animal Studies and Disaster Studies, Seven’s interdisciplinary research aims to improve preparedness and resiliency for humans and other animals in disaster contexts. Seven teaches large-format Integrative Social Science courses, an Undergraduate Learning Seminar, Interdisciplinary Research Methods, and an FSA Study Abroad to Japan. In both research and teaching Seven focuses on understanding and valuing ecological entanglements across cultures.

Outside of teaching and research, Seven skates with Lansing Roller Derby, rolls dice in Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, and fosters kittens whenever possible. They are an enthusiast of fermented pickles, Japanese Yokai folklore, and Studio Ghibli films.

 

CURRENT RESEARCH AREAS

· Animal Studies

· Critical Disaster Studies

· Japan Studies

· Gender and the Environment

 

ASSOCIATED/AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

· Animal Studies

· Education Abroad

 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS & PUBLICATIONS IN-PRESS/UNDER REVIEW

Mattes, Seven. Forthcoming. “Building Resiliencies for Multispecies Communities.” Human Ecology Review, Special Issue on Innovations in Ecocultural Studies.

 

Beadle, Jorhie, Seven Mattes, Laurie Thorp, Dale Rozeboom, and Ellie Vondette. Forthcoming. "Pedagogical Pigs: Experiential Learning for Boundary Crossing.” Journal of Agricultural Education.

 

Mattes, Seven. Forthcoming. “UFOs and Animal Exploitation: The Rhetoric of Ridicule.” In Nathan Poirer, Sarah Tomasello and Amber E. George (Eds.), Exploring Topics in Non/human Coexistence: Passion, Praxis and Presence. Lantern Publishing and Media.

 

Mattes, Seven. 2024. “Afterword.” In Nathan Poirer, Sarah Tomasello and Amber E. George (Eds), Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination: Essays in Solidarity and Total Liberation. Peter Lang Publishing.

 

Mattes, Seven. 2023. "Human-Animal Studies." Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Second Edition.

 

Boucher, Eddie, Mattes, Seven, Munoz, Lauren, Beadle, Jorhie, Darabie, Amina, Andres, Ari & Quillinan, Taylor. (IDS Faculty-Student Research and Production Team). 2022. Capital Area Farmers Markets, Lansing, Michigan. (A Community-Engaged, Teaching & Learning Documentary). United States.

https://youtu.be/d72i2yzIXpY

 

Mattes, Seven. 2022. “Kawaii pets and animal abandonment in Japan.” In Laura A. Reese (Ed.), Animals in the City, 95-126. Global Urban Studies. London: Routledge.

 

Mattes, Seven, Aviva Vincent, Cameron T. Whitley. 2021. “Emerging with Oddkin: Interdisciplinarity in the Animal Turn.” Society & Animals 29 (7), 733-761

 

Faas, A.J., Roberto Barrios, Virginia García-Acosta, Adriana Garriga-López, Jennifer Trivedi, and Seven Mattes. 2020. “Entangled Roots and Otherwise Possibilities: The Anthropology of Disasters COVID-19 Research Agenda.” Human Organization 79(4).

 

Mattes, Seven and Cameron T. Whitley. 2020. “Entangled Impacts: Human-Animal Relationships and Energy Development.” In Jeffrey Jacquet, Julia Haggerty, and Gene Theodori (eds.), Coordinating Research on the Social Impacts of Energy Development: Synthesis across the social sciences, 45-73. University Press of Colorado.

 

Kelly, Jennifer, Seven Mattes, and Christina Leshko. 2018. “Perceptions of Wildlife: The Case of Ingham County Michigan.” Michigan Sociological Review, 32, 67-91.

 

Mattes, Seven. 2017. “The Shared Vulnerability and Resiliency of the Fukushima Animals and their Rescuers.” In Michèle Companion and Miriam Chaiken (eds.), Responses to Disasters and Climate Change: Understanding Vulnerability and Fostering Resilience, 103-116. Taylor and Francis.

 

Mattes, Seven. 2017. “Save the Whale? Ecological Memory and the Human-Whale Bond in Japan’s Small Coastal Villages.” In Ian Werkheiser and Zachary Piso (eds.), Food Justice in US and Global Contexts, 67-81. Springer.

 

Whitley, Cameron Thomas, Louie Rivers III, Seven Mattes, Sandra T. Marquart-Pyatt, Arika Ligmann-Zielinska, Laura Schmitt Olabisi, and Jing Du. 2017. “Climate-induced migration: using mental models to explore aggregate and individual decision-making.” Journal of Risk Research 21 (8), 1019-1035.

 

Whitley, Cameron T, Seven Mattes, and Rachel Kelly. 2015. “Intentional Shared Suffering: A Comparative Analysis of Varied Pig Production Methods in a University Setting.” Animalia: An Anthrozoology Journal.

 

RECENT TEACHING AWARDS

Adams Academy Fellowship in Teaching & Learning, Michigan State University, 2022-2023

ISS Teaching Excellence Award, Michigan State University, 2019

Clifton Bryant Animals and Society Course Award for ISS 210: “Animals, Culture, and Power”, American Sociological Association, 2023