COSEM-UA 107 - Zooësis: Animal Acts for Changing Times

Institution:

New York University

Subject:

Description:

The emerging field of animal studies has already generated neologisms in various disciplines: "anthrozoology" (culture studies), "zoopolis" (urban social theory), and "zoontology" (philosophy). To these the fields of literature and performance studies propose an addition, "zooësis," to refer to the history of animal representation that stretches, in the Western literary tradition, from Aesop's Fables to Will Self 's Great Apes; in the Western dramatic tradition, from Aristophanes' The Frogs to Albee's The Goat; in film, from Muybridge's "zoogyroscope" to Herzog's Grizzly Man; in popular culture, from Mickey Mouse to Animal Planet; and in popular performance, from gladiatorial contests to Siegfried and Roy. To speak of zooësis is also to acknowledge the manifold performances engendered by cultural animal practices such as dog shows, keeping pets, equitation, rodeo, bullfighting, animal sacrifice, scientific experimentation, taxidermy, hunting, wearing fur, eating meat-each with its own archive and repertory, its own performers and spectators. We study recent films, novels, plays, and cultural events that reveal how our interaction with animals shapes our understanding of the human, our approach to the "Other" (including the racial and ethnic "Other"), and our attitude toward the world.

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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