SC360.01: ANIMALS AND SOCIETY
SPRING 2014
TUESDAY, 3:00–5:30 PM
GASSON 210
Instructor: Elizabeth Tov
Email: elizabeth.tov@bc.edu
Office: McGuinn 410-C
Office Hours: Tuesday, 12:30–2:30pm and by appointment
Mailbox: #49 in McGuinn 410
This course considers the implications of the roles of animals in human societies—both on
humans and on nonhuman animals. We will examine human-animal interactions in historical
context as well as contemporary social constructions of animals and the human/animal boundary.
We will consider several domains in which humans and animals interact, such as the use of
animals in commerce, scientific research, and pet-keeping. We will also examine links between
animal cruelty and human-on-human violence, and how the abuse of animals may reflect or even
contribute to systems of oppression and inequality among humans. Finally, this course will
explore shifting attitudes, norms, and practices toward animals, and the emergence of the animal
protection movement.
REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS:
1. Balcombe, J. (2010). Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals. New York, NY:
Palgrave Macmillan.
2. Taylor, N. (2013). Humans, Animals, and Society: An Introduction to Human-Animal
Studies. Brooklyn, NY: Lantern Books.
3. There will be additional readings/film clips/photo essays on Blackboard AND fulllength films at O’Neill Media Course Reserves.
a. The course blackboard site can be accessed at cms.bc.edu. Readings and links to
short videos, news articles, and photo essays will be arranged in dated folders on
the homepage. (E.g., the readings for January 21 can be found in the folder
labeled with that date.) Blackboard items are listed as “BB” on the course
schedule.
b. You can find the link for the films on reserve at the BC libraries homepage; look
for the “Course Reserves” link. Note that to access our reserves you must enter
the course section as well as the course number. That is, search for the reserves
under “SC360.01” not “SC360.”
COURSE EXPECTATIONS AND EVALUATION:
This is a reading and participation intensive course. You should do the readings and view any
films/news clips/photo essays by the date under which they are listed. Come ready to discuss the
readings. (I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus provided I give you fair and ample
warning.) If you miss class, you are responsible for getting notes from a classmate. Missing three
classes will constitute failing the course. A doctor, school administrator, or other certified official
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must verify an absence in order for it to be excused. You will be evaluated in the following four
areas:
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Participation (15%)
Class Presentation (25%)
Weekly Responses (32%)
Final Paper (28%)
Participation (15%): This includes contributing to class discussions, respecting the views of
others, and doing a brief presentation of your final paper at the end of the semester. You may
also boost your participation grade by emailing me 2-3 thoughtful discussion questions by 8
A.M. on the day of class. Students are encouraged to critique all the assigned readings and to
dissect the debates within them. Note that we will be reading arguments by scholars with a range
of views, and some topics may be provocative or even controversial. It is entirely likely that
students will have differing viewpoints, and some students may feel passionately about some of
these subjects. While I encourage debate and a vibrant exchange of ideas, it is critical to
remember that you are always expected to treat other classmates with respect and compassion. If
you disagree with a fellow student, focus your critical comments on students’ arguments—never
on the student themselves.
Weekly Responses (32%): Weekly responses are due via email to the professor by 8 A.M. the
day of class. Response papers should be between 500 and 1,000 words (roughly equivalent to
1.5–3 pages double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-pt font, 1” margins). Each response must
touch on at least FOUR of the assigned items for that week. Responses can take any of the
following forms: summaries; critiques; questions (e.g., “I don’t understand what this author
means by X”); musings on how the readings connect to things in the world or other readings; or a
combination of some or all of these. Responses will be worth 4 points each and the four
lowest scores will be dropped (4 points * 8 responses = 32 points total). Papers received after
8am will receive a 5% deduction for each additional hour they are late.
Class Presentation (25%): In small groups, you will lead one class presentation and discussion
based on the day’s assigned readings. You can plan to do some summary, but also be sure to
incorporate discussion. The more discussion and interaction you foster, the better! You are
encouraged to include outside material, but this is not required. Class presentations can take a
variety of forms and can incorporate a range of presentation aids (e.g., video; photos/artwork;
lecture; poetry; news articles; posters; handouts; demonstration items such as a bull hook, faux
fur, typical small animal laboratory cage; organizational pamphlets, etc.). Plan to leave about 20
minutes at the end of class to allow the professor to highlight key points.
I will try to match you up with your topic/day of choice as best I can. To help me do this, by
11:59 PM this Friday, January 17 please email me your top 5 choices (#1 being your top
choice; available dates are Feb 4 through April 15) AND tell me if you have a preference as to
being in a group of two or three. Please note that if I do not receive this information from you I
will not be able to take your preferences into account!! Your presentation grade will be assessed
on an individual basis with the following rubric:
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Is the class session well-organized?
Relates material to previous readings
Provides internal summaries and transitions
Maintains continuity in the discussion/presentation
Summarizes main points at end of presentation
Paces class session appropriately
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How is the content presented?
Presentation aids are useful
Presents background information for ideas
Explains difficult terms and concepts
Integrates readings and discussion/presentation
Helps clarify material
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Is the presenter credible?
Appears well-prepared
Understands the material
Is able to admit insufficient knowledge
Speaks audibly
Communicates enthusiasm
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How is presenter’s rapport with classmates?
Encourages participation
Responds constructively to classmates
Treats classmates respectfully
Recognizes when others are confused
Shows respect for others’ viewpoints
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Final Paper (28%): In lieu of a final examination, you will be responsible for writing a term
paper on any topic within the field of Animals & Society that you would like to examine more
closely. Final papers are due at 3 P.M. on April 29 (the last day of class) and should be
double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-pt font, 1” margins, and 10–15 pages in length. You must
submit a proposed topic and tentative reference list by March 18. Additional instructions and
suggestions will be discussed before this date. The last two days of class will be dedicated to
short (about 10 minutes each) student presentations of their term papers.
DISABILITY SERVICES:
If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this
course, please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, dugganka@bc.edu, at the Connors Family
Learning Center regarding learning disabilities and ADHD, or Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-3470,
paulette.durrett@bc.edu, in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities,
including temporary disabilities. Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for
accommodations.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Cheating, plagiarism and fabrication of information or citations are considered extremely serious
offenses, both by me and the university, and will result in automatic course failure. As it is your
obligation to be fully aware of the Boston College policies on academic honesty, please take a
few moments to familiarize yourself with them at www.bc.edu/integrity.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
January 14
Introduction to Human-Animal Studies
January 21
Animal Emotions, Intelligence, and Reflexivity
v
v
v
v
Taylor: “Introduction”
Balcombe: Chapters 1 through 9
BB: Berns, “Dogs Are People, Too.” 2013. New York Times
BB: View video accompanying the above article (2.5 minutes) (Link on Blackboard)
January 28
Historical, Comparative, and Sociological Perspectives
v
v
v
v
BB: DeMello, “The Social Construction of Animals”
BB: DeMello, “The Domestication of Animals”
BB: Noske, “Speciesism, Anthropocentrism, and Non-Western Cultures.” 1997. Anthrozoos.
BB: Jerolmack, “How Pigeons Became Rats: The Cultural-Spatial Logic of Problem Animals.”
2008. Social Problems.
v BB: Tobias, “The Anthropology of Conscience.” 1996. Society and Animals
v BB: McWilliams, “Beastly Justice.” 2013. Slate Magazine
February 4
The Human-Animal Bond
v Taylor: Ch. 1 “The Human-Animal Bond”
v BB: Perrine and Osbourne, “Personality Characteristics of Dog and Cat Persons.” 1998.
Anthrozoos.
v BB: Ellis and Irvine, “Reproducing Dominion: Emotional Apprenticeship in the Youth 4-H
Livestock Program.” 2010. Society and Animals.
v BB: Morris, “Managing Pet Owners’ Guilt and Grief in Veterinary Euthanasia Encounters.”
2012. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.
v BB: Bock, Van Huik, Prutzer, Eveillard, and Dockes, “Farmers’ Relationship with Different
Animals.” 2007. International Journal of Sociology of Food and Agriculture.
v O’Neill Film Reserve: Shelter Me: Improving Lives One Shelter Pet at a Time (57 min)
February 11
Wildlife, Conservation, and Hunting
v BB: DeMello, “Animals ‘in the Wild’ and in Human Societies”
v BB: Pollen, “The Modern Hunter-Gatherer.” 2006. New York Times Magazine.
v BB: Knezevic, “Hunting and Environmentalism: Conflict or Misperceptions.” 2009. Human
Dimensions of Wildlife.
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v BB: Von Drehle, “America’s Pest Problem: It’s Time to Cull the Herd.” 2013. Time Magazine.
v BB: Lin, “Hunting Isn’t the Answer to Animal ‘Pests’.” 2013. Time Magazine.
v BB: Kleinfield, “Outcry in Eastern Long Island Over a Plan to Cull Deer.” 2013. New York
Times.
v BB: Richardson, Fernandez, Tschirley, and Tembo, “Wildlife Conservation in Zambia: Impacts
on Rural Household Welfare.” 2012. World Development. ***NOTE: FEEL FREE TO SKIP
SECTIONS 3 AND 4 (~pp. 1071–1079)***
February 18
Animals as Pets
v BB: DeMello, “The Pet Animal”
v BB: Hallsworth, “Then They Came for the Dogs!” 2011. Crime, Law & Social Change.
v BB: Burnett, “Rising Pit Bull Adoptions Reflect Breed’s Changing Image.” 2013. The Boston
Globe.
v BB: Tissot, “Of Dogs and Men: The Making of Spatial Boundaries in a Gentrifying
Neighborhood.” 2011. City & Community.
v BB: Irvine, “Animals as Lifechangers and Lifesavers: Pets in the Redemption Narratives of
Homeless People.” 2013. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.
v Taylor: Pp. 99–102 (“Working with/for Animals—Animal Shelters”)
v BB: Irvine, “The Problem of Unwanted Pets: a Case Study in How Institutions ‘Think’ about
Clients’ Needs.” 2003. Social Problems.
v [Optional] Film: Parrot Confidential (55 min) (Link on Blackboard; available for streaming on
PBS website)
February 25
Animals as Food
v BB: DeMello, “The Making and Consumption of Meat”
v BB: Rogers, “Beasts, Burgers, and Hummers: Meat and the Crisis of Masculinity in
Contemporary Television Advertisements.” 2008. Environmental Communication. [Optional:
View the 3 commercials; links on Blackboard.]
v BB: Porcher, “The Relationship between Workers and Animals in the Pork Industry.” 2011.
Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.
v BB: Dupuis, excerpt from Nature’s Perfect Food: How Milk Became America’s Drink. 2002.
v BB: Davis, “The Least Harm Principle May Require That Humans Consume a Diet Containing
Large Herbivores, Not a Vegan Diet.” 2003. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.
v BB: Kaminsky, “The Good Farmer: An Agrarian Approach to Animal Agriculture.” 2010. The
CAFO Reader.
v [Optional] Solotoff, “Belly of the Beast.” 2013. Rolling Stone Magazine. (Link on Blackboard)
March 4
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
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March 11
Animals in Entertainment, Sport, and Spectacle
v BB: Jamieson, “Against Zoos.” 2008. The Animal Ethics Reader.
v BB: Hutchins, Smith, and Allard, “In Defense of Zoos and Aquariums.” 2008. The Animal Ethics
Reader.
v BB: Beardsworth and Bryman, “The Wild Animal in Late Modernity: The Case of the
Disneyization of Zoos.” 2001. Tourist Studies.
v BB: Pliny the Elder, “Combats of Elephants.” 75–79 A.D.
v BB: Gillespie, Leffler, and Lerner, “If It Weren’t for My Hobby, I’d Have a Life: Dog Sports,
Serious Leisure, and Boundary Negotiations.” 2002. Leisure Studies.
v BB: Gilbert and Gillet, “Equine Athletes and Interspecies Sport.” 2012. International Review for
the Sociology of Sport.
v O’Neill Film Reserve: Blackfish (83 minutes)
v [Optional] View video clip (3 min): “Apps for Apes—Zoo Orangutans using iPads for
Enrichment.” 2013. (Link on Blackboard)
March 18
Animals and Science
v Taylor: Pp. 79–90 (“Working with/for Animals—In the Laboratory”)
v BB: DeMello, “Animals and Science”
v BB: Franklin, “Dolly’s Body: Gender, Geneticism and the New Genetic Capital.” 2002.
Filozofski Vestnik.
v BB: Birke, “Who—or What—are the Rats (and Mice) in the Laboratory.” 2003. Society and
Animals.
v BB: Phillips, “Savages, Drunks, and Lab Animals: The Researcher’s Perception of Pain.” 1993.
Society and Animals.
v BB: DeGrazia, “The Ethics of Animal Research: What Are the Prospects for Agreement?” 1999.
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics.
v BB: Brody, “Defending Animal Research: An International Perspective”
v [Optional] View news clip (9 min): “Ray of Light: Lab Chimpanzees to Retire to Sanctuary.”
2013. NBC News. (Link on Blackboard)
v [Optional] View short video (4 min): “Retired from Research.” 2013. New York Times. (Link on
Blackboard)
March 25
Criminology and Deviance
v Taylor: Ch. 5 “Human- and Animal-Directed Violence”
v BB: Flynn, “Examining the Links Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence.” 2011. Crime,
Law and Social Change.
v BB: Nathanson, “Animal Hoarding: Slipping Into the Darkness of Comorbid Animal and SelfNeglect.” 2009. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect.
v BB: Maher and Pierpoint. “Friends, Status Symbols and Weapons: The Use of Dogs by Youth
Groups and Youth Gangs.” 2011. Crime, Law and Social Change.
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v BB: Kalof and Taylor, “The Discourse of Dog Fighting.” 2007. Humanity and Society.
v O’Neill Film Reserve: The Elephant in the Living Room (96 min) [HINT: Think about if and
how the subjects explored in this film relate to deviance and/or crime. E.g., to what extent should
exotic pet keeping be considered deviant? Criminal?]
April 1
Interlinked Oppressions
v BB: DeMello, “Human Oppression and Animal Suffering”
v BB: Spiegel, “An Historical Understanding.” 1996. The Dreaded Comparison: Human and
Animal Slavery.
v BB: Adams, “The Sexual Politics of Meat.” 1990. The Sexual Politics of Meat: A FeministVegetarian Critical Theory.
v BB: Nibert, “Humans and Other Animals: Sociology’s Moral and Intellectual Challenge.” 2003.
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.
v O’Neill Film Reserve: Mine (94 min)
April 8
Animals as Symbols and Representing Animals
v
v
v
v
Taylor: Ch. 3 “Representing Animals”
BB: DeMello, “Animals in Human Thought”
BB: DeMello, “Animals in Literature”
BB: Smith-Harris, “There’s Not Enough Room to Swing a Dead Cat and There’s No Use
Flogging a Dead Horse.” 2004. ReVision.
v BB: Pierson, “‘Hey, They’re Just Like Us!’ Representations of the Animal World in the
Discovery Channel’s Nature Programming.” 2005. The Journal of Popular Culture.
v BB: View photos and read artist’s statement: Miru, “The Pig That Therefore I Am.” (Link on
Blackboard)
v BB: View photos and read artist’s statement: Leshko, “Elderly Animals” (Link on Blackboard)
April 15
The Animal Protection Movement
v Taylor: Ch. 6 “Protecting Animals”
v BB: Scully, “The Case for Compassionate Conservatism—for Animals”
v BB: Einwohner, “Practices, Opportunity, and Protest Effectiveness: Illustrations from Four
Animal Rights Campaigns.” 1999. Social Problems.
v BB: Gorman, “Considering the Humanity of Nonhumans.” Dec. 9, 2013. New York Times.
v BB: Greenebaum, “‘I’m Not an Activist!’: Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare in the Purebred
Dog Rescue Movement.” 2009. Society and Animals.
April 22
Project Presentations
April 29
Project Presentations / Final Papers Due at 3:00 PM!
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