Anst-Ua 200/Soc-Ua 970/Envst 610-Ua
ANST-UA 200/SOC-UA 970/ENVST 610-UA
ANIMALS AND SOCIETY
Spring 2017; Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:15
Professor Colin Jerolmack
Email:
Office location & hours: 295 Lafayette St., 4th Floor; Tues./Thurs. 9:30-10:45 & by appt.
Course Description: This course analyzes the ways that animal and human lives intersect. Specifically, it examines how relationships with animals both reflect and shape social life, culture, and how people think about themselves. We will explore the myriad and contradictory positions that animals occupy in society [e.g., as pets, pests, mascots, and food] and deconstruct the social origins of these seemingly natural categories. We will also take a grounded look at what actually happens when humans and animals interact, which sheds new light on the nature of human and animal consciousness. Fundamentally, students will 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? 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?
The theories and substantive topics that this course covers are varied and complex; and the readings are demanding. In both our class discussions and the written assignments, students must be able to critically analyze and compare the materials. Attendance of, and participation in, lectures is thus essential; and attendance will be taken. Requirements include six short writing assignments and a final essay exam (see “grading” below). All readings are on NYU Classes except:
Required Texts [available online and on reserve at Bobst]:
- Jonathan Safran Foer. 2009. Eating Animals.
- Michael Schaffer. 2010. One Nation, Under Dog.
*Purchasing used books online saves you money.Bring assigned readings with you to class every time.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: “The College is a “community of the mind.” Its students, faculty, and staff all share the goal of pursuing truth through free and open inquiry, and we support one another’s endeavors in this regard. As in any community, membership comes with certain rights and responsibilities. Foremost among these is academic integrity. Cheating on an exam, falsifying data, or having someone else write a paper undermines others who are “doing it on their own”; it makes it difficult or impossible to assess fairly a student’s interest, aptitude, and achievement; and it diminishes the cheater, depriving him or her of an education. Most important, academic dishonesty is a violation of the very principles upon which the academy is founded. Thus, when students enter the College, one of the first things that they are asked to do is to sign a community compact, recognizing these principles of academic integrity. For this reason also, violations of these principles are treated with the utmost seriousness.” For more information on this policy, and sanctions, visit:
*Disability disclosure statement: Academic accommodations are available to any student with a chronic, psychological, visual, mobility, learning disability, or who is deaf or hard of hearing. Students should please register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212-998-4980. NYU's Henry and Lucy Moses Center for Students with Disabilities 726 Broadway, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10003-6675 Telephone: 212-998- 4980 Voice/TTY Fax: 212-995- 4114 Web site:
*Disclaimer: The instructor reserves the right to change any aspect of this syllabus, including readings, assignments, and due dates.
COURSE OUTLINE
I: LOOKING AT ANIMALS
Week 1: Jan. 2426 Bryant: “Zoological Connection;” Noske: “The Animal Question”
Week 2 (1st class): Jan. 31 Berger: “Why look at Animals?;” Gibson: A Reenchanted World
II: THINKING WITH ANIMALS
Week 2 (2nd class): Feb. 2 Levi-Strauss: Totemism (p. 1-14, 72-91); Angelo & Jerolmack: “The Looking-glass of Nature”
Week 3: Feb. 79 Geertz: “Deep Play;” Jerolmack: “Animals Practices, Ethnicity, and Community”Bell: Childerley; Emel: “Wolf Eradication”
Week 4: Feb. 1416Fine & Christoforides: “Dirty Birds and Filthy Immigrants;” Arluke & Sanders: “Boundary-work in Nazi Germany”Harris: “Cows and Pigs”
Week 5 (1st class): Feb. 21Descartes: “Animals are Machines;” Irvine: If You Tame Me (33-56)
III: living with animals
Week 5 (2nd class): Feb. 23Ritvo: “Pet-keeping;” Irvine: If You Tame Me (12-32, 57-77)
Week 6: Feb. 28Mar. 2 Schaffer: One Nation, Under Dog
IV: COMMUNICATING WITH ANIMALS
Week 7: Mar. 79 Sanders: “Action Speaks Louder Than Words;” Irvine: If You Tame Me (147-171)Mechling: “Banana Cannon;” Jerolmack: “Humans, Animals, and Play”
*******************************SPRING BREAK*********************************
V: WORKING WITH ANIMALS
Week 8: Mar. 21 & 23 Solot & Arluke: “Animal Dissection;” Ellis & Irvine: “4-H and Dominionism” Lynch: “Laboratory Culture;” Arluke & Sanders: “Primate Labs”
VI: PLACING ANIMALS
Week 9: Mar. 28 & 30 Philo & Wilbert: “Animal Spaces;” Scarce: “Wolves at the Door”Jerolmack: “How Pigeons Became Rats;” Wolch: “Zoopolis”
VII: eating animals
Week 10: Apr. 46 Foer: Eating Animals
Week 11: Apr. 11 & 13 Foer: Eating AnimalsPachirat: Every Twelve Seconds
VIII: ABUSING ANIMALS
Week 12: Apr. 18 20 Ascione: “Children Who Are Cruel to Animals;” Arluke et al.: “Animal Abuse and Antisocial Behavior”readings on Michael Vick.
IX: VALUING ANIMALS
Week 13: Apr. 2527 Arluke & Sanders: “The Sociozoologic Scale;” Jasper: “Sentiments, Ideas, and Animals”Jamieson: “Against Zoos;” Regan: “The Case for Animal Rights”
Week 14: May 24Review Sessionin-class final exam
GRADING
There will be no midterm. Grades will be based on performance in four areas:
10% Participation: Class participation includes, of course, what the student does when he/she is in class. Students are expected to have read the material, reviewed notes from the previous class, and be ready and willing to discuss the readings and contribute to class debates. Students are expected to attend to the comments of other students and the instructor. Those students who are disruptive will be removed from class (if you are too tired to stay awake in class, don’t come; turn off your cell phones!). On randomly selected days attendance sheets will be passed out, and attendance will be a substantial part of your final grade for the course.
20% Essays: Fourhalf-page (single-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, one inch margins) essays will be assigned (5 points each). These essays must be turned in one week after the date assigned. Papers may be turned in early but will receive one grade deduction for each class period they are late. Each half-page essay will be in response to a question that determines whether the student has critically read the assigned material. To receive a top grade, essays should relate the reading to class discussion. Essays longer than one page, or not in accordance with font and margin guidelines, will not be read by the instructor or graded.
40% Papers: Two argumentative papers, each two pages(single-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, one inch margins) in length—the form and topics to be discussed and assigned in class. The first paper will count for 15% of the overall grade and will be due somewhere around the middle of the semester. The second paper will count for 25% of the overall grade and is due in the penultimate week of class. It can be difficult to write an argumentative paper—it is not merely a reflection of having read the material but of being able to critically analyze the most pertinent themes, construct an opinion supported by evidence from the readings and class, and present your argument in a coherent and logical fashion. Keep in mind that presenting a powerful argument is much harder to do in a short format. Papers longer than two pages, or not in accordance with font and margin guidelines, will not be read by the instructor or graded.
30% Final exam: On the last day of class (May 4) students will take an in-class final exam in which they will choose two essay questions from among three topics addressing and comparing the main themes of the course. Students will have the length of the class period to respond to the questions, which may cover any and all reading and discussion topics from the entire semester.
COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY
Angelo, Hillary and Colin Jerolmack. 2012. “Nature’s Looking-glass.” Contexts11(1): 24-29.
Arluke, Arnold, J. Levin, C. Luke, and F. Ascione. 1999. “The Relationship Between Animal Cruelty to Violence and Other Forms of Antisocial Behavior.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 14: 245-253.
Arluke, Arnold and Clinton Sanders. 1996. Regarding Animals. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Ascione, Frank R. 1994. “Children Who are Cruel to Animals.” Anthrozoos 6(4): 226-247.
Bell, Michael Mayerfeld. 1994. Childerley. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Berger, John. 1980. “Why Look at Animals?” Pp. 3-28 in About Looking, edited by J.
Berger. New York: Vintage Books.
Bryant, Clifton D. 1979. “The Zoological Connection: Animal-related Human Behavior.” Social Forces 58: 399-421.
Descartes, Rene. 1649. “Passions of the Soul.”
Ellis, Colter and Leslie Irvine. 2010. “Reproducing Dominion: Emotional Apprenticeship in the 4H Youth Livestock Program.” Society & Animals 18:21- 39.
Fine, Gary Alan and Lazaros Christoforides. 1991. “Dirty Birds, Filthy Immigrants, and the English Sparrow War: Metaphorical Linkage in Constructing Social Problems.” Symbolic Interaction 14: 375–391.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. 2009. Eating Animals. New York: Little, Brown & Co.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Deep Play.” In The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Gibson, James William. 2009. A Reenchanted World. New York: Holt.
Harris, Marvin. 1974. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches. New York: Vintage Books.
Irvine, Leslie. 2004. If You Tame Me. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Jamieson, Dale. 1985. “Against Zoos.” Pp. 108-117 in In Defense of Animals, edited by Peter Singer. New York: Basil Blackwell.
Jasper, James. 1999. “Sentiments, Ideas, and Animals: Rights Talk and Animal Protection.” Pp. 147-157 in Ideas, Ideologies, and Social Movements, edited by Peter Coclanis and Stuart Bruchey. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
Jerolmack, Colin.2009.“Humans, Animals, and Play: Theorizing Interaction When Intersubjectivity is Problematic.”Sociological Theory 27(4): 371-389.
Jerolmack, Colin. 2008."How Pigeons Became Rats: The Cultural-Spatial Logic of Problem Animals."Social Problems 55(1): 72-94.
Jerolmack, Colin.2007."Animal Practices, Ethnicity and Community: The Turkish Pigeon Handlers of Berlin."American Sociological Review 72(6): 874-894.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. 1962. Totemism. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Lynch, Michael E. 1988. “Sacrifice and the Transformation of the Animal Body into a Scientific Object: Laboratory Culture and the Ritual Practice in the Neurosciences.” Social Studies of Science 18(2): 265–289.
Mechling, Jay. 1989. “’Banana Cannon’ and Other Folk Traditions between Human and Nonhuman Animals.” Western Folklore 48(4): 312-323.
Noske, Barbara. 1993. “The Animal Question in Anthropology.” Society and Animals 1(2): 185-190.
Pachirat, Timothy. 2011. Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Philo, Chris and Chris Wilbert, eds. 2000. Animal Spaces, Beastly Places. New York: Routledge.
Regan, Tom. 1985. The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ritvo, Harriet. 1987. “The Emergence of Modern Pet-keeping.” Anthrozoos 1(3): 158-165.
Sanders, Clinton. 2003. “Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Close Relationships between Humans and Nonhuman Animals.” Symbolic Interaction 26(3): 405–426.
Scarce, Rik. 2005. “More Than Mere Wolves at the Door: Reconstructing Community Amidst a Wildlife Controversy.” Pp. 123–46 in Mad About Wildlife, edited by A. Herda- Rapp and T. L. Goedeke. Boston, MA: Brill.
Schaffer, Michael. 2010. One Nation, Under Dog. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Solot, Dorian and Arnold Arluke. 1997. “Learning the Scientist’s Role: Animal Dissection in Middle School.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 26(1): 28-54.
Wolch, Jennifer and Jody Emel, eds. 1998. Animal Geographies. New York: Verso.