Catalog Search
> Humanities & Social Sciences
> 46.331
Note: This course is not available for the current semester.
Course No: 46.331; Last Offered: Summer 2011;
Course Description
The field of "animal studies" is a new academic field with many names, definitions, and areas of concentration. Interdisciplinary work in the field of animal studies engages with a wide range of academic disciplines spanning from the humanities through the social and 'hard' sciences. Some areas of inquiry focus on 'animals and literature' while others look at nonhuman animals through the lenses of feminist or queer theory. A range of other disciplines, from anthropology and history to biology and geography, are all emerging as critical components of the field.
We will also be engaging with material from a range of disciplines-which can be challenging at times, given the specialized jargon often found in various disciplinary texts-but our focus will be on the following question: how does the structure of the human-nonhuman animal relationship affect or determine the nature of public policy formation on issue domains with direct or indirect impacts on nonhuman animals, both nationally and internationally? In order to properly answer this question, we will draw heavily on philosophical and other texts that examine the lives and interests of nonhuman animals in their own right.
In a course of this nature, it is more often than not disingenuous to feign neutrality when it comes to animal-advocacy based research. This is especially true in a course about animals and public policy, where the decisions being debated and made are precisely those decisions about which animal welfare organizations and other interest group litigate and otherwise negotiate. Nonetheless, every effort will be made to understand as many perspectives as possible; this is not 'a course about animal rights', and the views in favor of using animals in food production or biomedical research will be presented, as will those opposed and some in between. You are expected to be respectful of any opinions presented, even-or especially-if they are very different from your own.
Prerequisites & Notes
- Prerequisites:
- Special Notes:
- Credits: 3; Contact Hours: 3
Questions About This Course?
Contact the Advising Center at 978-934-2474 or
Continuing_Education@uml.edu
Use the Back button in your browser to go back to search results.