Staff Profile
Dr Jamie Arathoon
Lecturer in Geography
I completed my PhD in 2022 at the University of Glasgow after an MRes in Human Geographies from the University of Glasgow and a BA (hons) in Geography from Keele University. My PhD research was funded by the ESRC (SGSSS) and explored the geographies of training and care between physically disabled and/or chronically ill people and their assistance dogs.
After my PhD I was awarded an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (~£110,000) to continue my research and develop work around an ethnomethodological engagement with assistance dog training. This work brought out the training philosophy of Vicki Hearne and engaged this through a spatial analysis of assistance dog training.
Subsequently I had stints teaching at York St John and the University of Glasgow before returning to York St John as Lecturer in Geography in January 2025.
- School – School of Humanities
- Email – j.arathoon1@yorksj.ac.uk
Further information
Teaching
GEO4018M - Environmental Geography Concepts and Practices
GEO5011M - Culture & Landscape
GEO6008M/GEO6010M - International/cross-cultural Fieldwork (Belfast)
GEO6015M - Human Geographies of Nature
GEO7003M - Environmental Humanities
Research
My research interests lie in animal geographies, disability geographies, and ethnomethodology.
i) Assistance Animals
My research has been interested in the role of assistance animals to the everyday lives of physically disabled humans and how dogs care for humans but also humans for dogs. This research is currently being developed as I explore public videos of assistance dog access denial to taxis, public transport, and everyday spaces such as shops and cafes.
ii) Geographies of Pet Theft
I have been researching pet theft with colleagues Dr Daniel Allen, Dr Helen Selby-Fell, and Dr John Walliss, to explore the experiences of pet theft, how people search for lost and stolen pets, and the geography of pet theft as a crime. This research has contributed to the Pet Theft Reform Campaign which led to the approval and acension of the Pet Abduction Bill (2024).
Publications
Journal articles
Arathoon, J., Allen, D., and Hallatt, A. (2024) “Too hot to handle”: Making lost and stolen pets present in virtual space. Geoforum, 152, p.104013.
Laurier, E. and Arathoon, J. (2024) Understanding in the canine classroom: learning to ‘lean’. Scottish Geographical Journal, 140(3-4), pp.413-434.
Arathoon, J. (2024) Towards an Agenda for Animal and Disability Geographies: Entanglements of Ableism, Speciesism, Care, Space, and Place. Social and Cultural Geography, 25(2), pp.199-217.
Arathoon, J. and Van Patter, L. (2024) Veterinary ethics and euthanasia: What can we learn from Critical Disability Studies?. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, pp.1412327
Arathoon, J. (2023) Using Ethnomethodology as an Approach to Explore Human-Animal Interaction. Area, 55(3), pp.390-398.
Allen, D., Arathoon, J. and Selby-Fell, H. (2022) Experiences of Dog Theft and Spatial Practices of Search/ing. The Geographical Journal, 188(4), pp.518-533.
Allen, D., Peacock, A. and Arathoon, J. (2019) Spatialities of Pet Theft: A Critical Perspective. Animals, 9(5). doi.org/10.3390/ani9050209
Book chapters
Arathoon, J. (2021) Researching Animal Geographies through the use of Walking Methods, in, Hovorka, A., McCubbin, S. and Van Patter, L. (eds.) A Research Agenda for Animal Geographies. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Book reviews
Arathoon, J. (2024). Researching animal research, Gail Davies, Beth Greenhough, Pru Hobson-West, Robert G. Kirk, Alexandra Palmer, Emma Roe (Eds.), in: hardcover, eBook: Open Access, Manchester University Press, Manchester, p.£30, ISBN: 978-1-5261-6577-0.
Arathoon, J. (2023) Animal Assistance in Chronic Illness. Humanimalia, 13(2). DOI: 10.52537/humanimalia.12719
Arathoon, J. (2024) DISABILITY WORLDS. Ginsburg, F. and Rapp, R. Durham and London: Duke University Press, pp. ix-271; notes, bibliog., index. $27.95 paper (ISBN: 9781478030409); $104.95 cloth (ISBN: 9781478026181); $15.37 electronic (ISBN: 9781478059394).
Public engagement
Arathoon, J. (2021) Training a pet to be an assistance dog. Invited blog post for the ‘Shaping Inter-species Connectedness Project’ website by Prof Nickie Charles. Available online: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/research/projects/isc/shapinginterspeciesconnectedness/interspeciesconnectedness/news/blog/jamie_arathoon_on
Arathoon, J. (2021) The geographies of assistance animals. The Geographer, RSGS Magazine. Spring issue. Available online: https://www.rsgs.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=9516d213-20fa-4cd4-9d4e-e63d58740ef9
BBC Scotland (2021) Do dog theft laws need to be reformed? The Nine. [Interview Appearance].
Conferences
Arathoon, J. (2024) Emerging animal geographers. Session organiser, sponsored by AGWG. The annual RGS Conference. Royal Geographical Society, London.
Arathoon, J. (2024) ACCESS DENIED: How assistance dog handlers negotiate access denial. Animal Geographies Working Group, Work-in-progress Seminar.
Arathoon, J. (2023) ACCESS DENIED: How assistance dog handlers negotiate access denial. CA Day, Loughborough University.
Arathoon, J. (2023) “’Too hot to handle’: Making lost and stolen pets present in virtual space. The Annual RGS Conference. Royal Geographical Society, London.
Arathoon, J. (2023) ‘“I want to do it I am getting confused mum”: Anthropomorphism, Agency, and ‘Animal Talk’ in Training between Disabled Humans and their Assistance Dogs’. International Society for Anthrozoology Conference. University of Edinburgh.
Arathoon, J. (2023) ‘Towards an Agenda for Animal and Disability Geographies (Studies)’. British Animal Studies Network. Strathclyde University.
Arathoon, J. (2022) Data sharing session: ‘Online assistance dog training’. Atypical Interaction Conference 2022. Newcastle University.
Muñoz, D. and Arathoon, J. (2022) ‘The making and remaking of disability in the urban everyday’. Session organisers. The Annual RGS Conference. Newcastle University.
Arathoon, J. (2021) ‘From pet to assistance dog: Care and training in assistance dog partnerships’. Assistance Dogs International Annual Conference 2021 [online].
Arathoon, J. (2021) ‘Ethnomethodology: Creating Graphic Transcripts of Human-assistance-animal Training Practices’. The Annual RGS Conference. RGS-IBG, London.
Arathoon, J. (2021) ‘From pet to assistance dog: The changing relations of care in the human-dog relationship’. The 30th International Society for Anthrozoology Conference [online].
Arathoon, J. (2020) ‘The dogs and the doors: Training a dog to open/close a door’. The 2nd Uncommon Worlds Conference: Life with and without animals [online]. University of Derby.
Professional activities
I am an active member of the Scottish Ethnomethodology Discourse Interaction and Talk (SEDIT) Group.
I am co-founder and treasurer of the Animal Geographies Working Group, RGS (2022 - present).
I am a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
