Critical Social Inquiry 0148 - Thinking with Animals: a transdisciplinary inquiry into human/non-human relations

Across the world, humans have viewed animals as: ancestors, teachers, friends, members of the family, meat, workers, pests, and threats. Everywhere, the 'human' is defined in relation to the 'animal.' Yet this relation is construed in diverse and contradictory ways. Ideas about what it means to 'be (an) animal' have long structured visions of belonging and otherness, as well as violence, racism, and oppression. As animals vanish or recede from human settlements, their images proliferate around us. Drawing on cultural, legal, and gender studies, multispecies ethnography, literature, and history, this seminar looks at varied human relationships to animals, animals' diverse roles in society, history, and the arts, and how ideas about 'animals' shape our sense of 'being human.' While we will write and research regularly, major assignments include: a personal essay, a report on a site observation, and an independent project in a form of students' choice. Keywords: animals, animal studies, multispecies, posthumanism, anthropology.

Students in this course should expect to spend 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.