ANST-UA 200 - Animals and Society

Institution:

New York University

Subject:

Description:

Analyzes the ways that animal and human lives intersect and examines how relationships with animals reflect and shape social life, culture, and how people think about themselves. Explores the myriad and contradictory positions that animals occupy in society (e.g., as pets, pests, mascots, and food) and deconstructs the social origins of these seemingly natural categories. (After all, one society's pet is another society's dinner.) Takes a grounded look at what actually happens when humans and animals interact, which sheds new light on the nature of human and animal consciousness and troubles some of the assumptions we make about the necessary role of language and symbols in interaction. Fundamentally, students learn how the roles that animals take on in our lives, and the ways that we think about and relate to them, are inherently social processes that are patterned by geography, culture, class, gender, and so on. Central questions include: How do ideas about, and relationships to, animals vary across time and space? What roles do science, literature, and media representations play in shaping how we think about animals? How and why did pets become honorary members of the American family? Why are some animals, but not others, granted moral status and legal protection in society? How do humans and animals coordinate interaction without language?

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nyu.edu

Phone Number:

(212) 998-1212

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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