FYSP 134 - Beastly Interactions: How Animals Shape What it is to be Human

FC SSCI WINT

4 credits
This course provides an introduction to the critical evaluation of human-animal interactions from a multi-disciplinary perspective. It will begin with the fundamental question of what is an animal and how does that shape our understanding of what is a human? We will go on to examine the ways human-animal relations are represented and conceived within social practices around the world and the consequences these interactions have on things like politics, inequality, and environmental problems. We will examine these issues in both a historical as well as contemporary context through philosophy, fiction, media, historical research, and anthropological writings.