ENWR 1510, Section 48: Animals & Ethics
Instructor: Michelle Taylor
Paper #3 assignment: Moving from Theory to Practice in the Animal Rights Debate
Draft 1 due: Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Final draft due: Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Objectives
In paper #2, you examined a relatively broad issue pertaining to animal rights and then took a stance on that issue. Your final paper requires you to zoom in further by answering a highly specific question of your own formation. This answer will be followed by a policy suggestion: what should be done better or differently as a result of your answer?
Remember the examples we brainstormed in class:
--What are the consequences of separating long-term companions in zoos?
--How effective are dog breed bans in protecting human bodily safety?
--What are the pros and cons of no-kill animal shelters?
Each of these questions could be approached differently. The first one could focus on a particular zoo or on a particular species across several zoos. The second could examine bite rates and severity in a particular city with a breed ban and see how many of those corresponded to “bully breeds,” or it could focus on the difficulties of identifying a bully breed in the first place.
In some cases, you may want to perform original research, using your sources (see Specifications, below) merely as a guide for how to conduct that research. If you chose the breed ban question, for instance, you might seek out access to your hometown’s bite records. If you were to choose the euthanasia question, you might want to discuss the no-kill shelter model with a shelter director. However, the nature of your question will determine whether your sources are your primary source of information, merely your models, or something in between.
As I hope to have made clear by now, this paper assignment is less structured than the previous two and not only allows for, but requires, creative thinking and flexibility. The rewards are proportionately large, however: you will perform a feat beyond what the average first-year has accomplished. Finally, I will nominate select papers for writing competitions focused on animal welfare and animal rights.
Specifications
Your paper should be 6-8 pages long, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font. Anything less than 6 full pages will be considered too short. Please use MLA citation style for paraphrases and direct quotes, as well as for your Works Cited page.
Source requirements: You need a minimum of three sources, including one from each of the following three categories:
1) An article from a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal;
2) A section or chapter from a book (in hard copy);
3) An editorial or otherwise online article.
All three of these sources must meet with my approval. Any additional sources do not.
Finding scholarly articles may pose some challenges, depending on your topic. Although we’ll be spending two days of class on this, I’m happy to help outside of class as well. Here are some suggestions to get you started. In some cases, you’ll find an article title but will need my credentials to access and download the article. Just email me a citation and I can help you.
--Society and Animals article-finding guide: http://www.animalsandsociety.org/human-animal-studies/society-and-animals-journal/society-animals-articles-by-topic/
--Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science article-finding guide: http://www.animalsandsociety.org/human-animal-studies/jaaws/jaaws-articles-by-topic/
--List of books published in the field of human-animal studies, courtesy of the Society and Animals Institute: http://www.animalsandsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/HAS-Books.pdf
--Michigan State University Animal Studies Bibliography: http://www.animalstudies.msu.edu/bibliography.php
--Kenneth Shapiro’s bibliography: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kenneth-shapiro
--Kim Stallwood’s bibliography: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/grumpyvegan/yourlibrary
You can also try keyword searches in UVa Library’s search engine, Virgo (the most basic option); in various databases the university subscribes to, especially the Social Science database (http://guides.lib.virginia.edu/content.php?pid=11353&sid=138730); and Google Scholar. When picking databases to search in UVa’s A-Z database list, remember that human-animal studies can span any of the following disciplines: agriculture, anthropology, biology, ethnic and cultural studies, environmental studies, family and consumer science, gender and sexuality studies, law, medicine, psychology, public policy, social work, sociology, zoology, and more.
Grading
The starting assumption is that your work is of B quality. You will move up or down according to the quality of your research question and how well you pose a solution to it. As stated in the syllabus, this paper (which includes both drafts and written feedback for your peer evaluation partner) is worth 25% of your final grade.