College Seminar - Non-Western History (103-7-26)
Topic
Food, Pets, Kin, and Threats: Animals in History
Instructors
Lydia Barnett
847/491-7421
Harris Hall - Room 305
Meeting Info
University Hall 318: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Course: Food, Pets, Kin, and Threats: Animals in History
This course takes a global and historical approach to the human-animal relationship. How has this relationship changed over time and how has it varied across different world cultures? How do people's attitudes towards animals change when they are classified (or re-classified) as pets, pests, predators, invaders, commodities, entertainment, a source of food, a member of the family? The very same animal - a rat, say - can be viewed as vermin, pets, or experimental test subjects depending on the individual, the culture, the time period, and the place. We will explore a range of topics together such as animal rights, animal breeding, hunting and fishing, vegetarianism, zoos, vivisection, "invasive" species, animals on trial, animals and capitalism, animals and colonialism. Ultimately, the ways that humans relate to (non-human) animals reveals just as much about ourselves as it does about them.
Learning Objectives
Mastering historical content and building the skills of historical and comparative analysis. Students will learn some of the ways that human-animal relationships have changed over time and varied across cultures. Learning to identify and analyze the role of cultural values and norms in shaping how humans see and treat (non-human) animals. Developing reading, writing, and research skills. Students will build skills that are specific to History but also transferable to other courses across the university. Students will gain confidence writing in diverse genres and doing research in individual and group settings. Learning to connect past and present. Students will learn to identify the historical legacies of past ways of treating animals as they exist the present day. Learning this history is a first and necessary step in making changes towards the future.
Evaluation Method
short papers and essays, class participation, no exams
Class Notes
Concentration: Global
Class Attributes
WCAS College Seminar