Multispecies Cultures · Queer Theory · Systems Change

About

Elizabeth Tavella (they/she) is an independent scholar of critical animal studies and environmental humanities whose work draws on critical theory, decolonial methods, and queer ecology to investigate interlinked systems of oppression and histories of liberation from an artistic and cultural perspective. Their current research includes fieldwork exploring sites of trans-species liberation as well as an inquiry into speculative arts and practices as tools for collective justice. Additional research interests include crip theory, radical care, and interspecies communication.
Elizabeth teaches in the English Writing, Literature, and Publishing Department at the American University of Rome and has previously taught courses in creative ecology, CAS, and sociology at the University of Chicago and at the School of the Art Institute. They held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago, with affiliations in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, and was also appointed affiliated scholar at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam. Elizabeth serves as the creative writing and arts editor of Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment and is co-editor of the multimedia digital publication Animated Wor(l)ds.

for multispecies liberated futures

© 2026 | Elizabeth Tavella, PhD