CSCL1916: The Animal

Animals are all around us who call ourselves human. We invite them into our homes, we kill them, we eat them, we go to great lengths to see them in the wild -- or we just go to the zoo, and watch, shoulder to shoulder, animals living less than wild lives. We also think a lot about animals, about what an animal is and in what ways humans are and are not animals. In this course we take up the question of the animal to examine how it has been conceived historically and how it is conceived today, and how those conceptions inform our treatment of animals. We will then ask what our ethical obligations are vis-à-vis the animals around us, and, finally, consider what the future will hold for the numerous species whose environments are disappearing. Students will finish the course with a keen eye for the ways that animals and ideas about them affect our world.

View on University Catalog