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Human and Animals Core Curriculum

 

The Human and Animals Core Curriculum was created to give you an opportunity to explore the roles animals play in society and the impact of human and animal relationships while providing a forum to share your view with others in an accepting environment where discussion is encouraged and desired.  The Core Curriculum consists of five innovative courses that utilize multiple disciplines and techniques to provide you the opportunity to learn and understand the impact of human and animal interactions, how globalization affects animal species, how geography and culture impact the roles animals play in society, and the domestication process.

Here are some added benefits if you choose to partake in all, or part, of the Core Curriculum:

  • You will have the opportunity to take field trips within the United States and to study abroad to Ireland, New Zealand, and/or Chile.
  • You will receive credit towards your degree.
  • You will learn from experts who are on the forefront of understanding the role animals play in society, animal welfare and human and animal interactions.

Core Curriculum Courses

ANSCI 240
Animals in Society

This course focuses on the placement and role animals have in a human society, which has long been a topic of controversy and debate. While many people believe that we have a moral and social obligation towards animals and that our relationships with animals can be mutually symbiotic, a wide range of views about animals exists. These are often based on misinformation and poorly informed value-based judgments that have had direct implications for pet owners, science and medicine, and agriculture.  Through open forum times, students are given the opportunity to discuss this controversial topic.

ANSCI 248
Human and Animal Interactions in the United States

This course explores the biological principles and fundamental theories that have been developed to explain the evolutionary process and the impact of humans on the selection, domestication, and evolution of animals.  Although the reciprocal connection between human and non-human animals is greatest where humans and animals interact due to the process of domestication, human population growth and the continued development and expansion of our habitat mean that very few animal species remain unaffected by human activities.  Students will study the archaeological evidence of how human-animal relationships have changed over time, how animal species adapt to changing environments including man-made environmental changes, animal domestication, human interactions with non-domesticated animal populations and how interactions impact those species, and the holistic impacts of animal evolution and domestication.

ANSCI 697.05 [link]
Study at a Foreign Institution: Human and Animal Interactions in Europe

This course offers an opportunity for you to broaden your educational program, and to gain a greater appreciation for cultural diversity, and provides a means to utilize skills and knowledge you have learned from multiple disciplines.  Your study abroad experience will take place in Ireland with stops in Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland, Galway, Ennis, Cliffs of Moher, Blarney, and Kilarney.  While in Dublin, students will explore the Dublin Zoo and a working farm and visit the University of Dublin to learn about animal welfare and food production. The program focuses on the role of animals in our society and provides students with an opportunity to appreciate how history, government, geography, and infrastructure can impact cultural development and use of land and animals within our societies.

ANSCI 697.06 [link]
Study at a Foreign Institution: Human and Animal Interactions in Australasia

This course offers an opp ortunity for you to broaden your educational program, and to gain a greater appreciation for cultural diversity, and provides a means to utilize skills and knowledge you have learned from multiple disciplines.  This study abroad experience will take place in New Zealand with stops in Auckland, Queenstown, and rural New Zealand.  Students will visit sites related to the utilization of animals for entertainment and preservation, animal agriculture, and conservation. The trip focuses on the role of animals in our society and provides students with an opportunity to gain an appreciation for how history, government, geography, and infrastructure can impact cultural development and the use of land and animals within our societies.

ANSCI 697.07 [link]
Study at a Foreign Institution: Human and Animal Interactions in South America

This course offers an op portunity for you to broaden your educational program, and to gain a greater appreciation for cultural diversity, and provides a means to utilize skills and knowledge you have learned from multiple disciplines.  This study abroad experience will take place in Chile.  Students will visit sites related to the utilization of animals for entertainment and preservation, animal agriculture, and conservation. The trip focuses on the role of animals in our society and provides students with an opportunity to gain an appreciation for how history, government, geography, and infrastructure can impact cultural development and the use of land and animals within our societies.