Rather than examine societies or nations, this course takes as its core subject the varied, complex, and changing relationships between humans and other animals. While we cannot altogether ignore politics and economics, we will attempt to answer what is at its core a social and cultural question, that is, how have animals shaped the human past? We will balance individual animal profiles with different approaches to these relationships from historians, journalists, scientists, and artists. We will consider the biological nature of animals as well as their symbolic importance.
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- Precolonial
- Conquest/Early Colonial
- Late colonial/Independence Era
- Nineteenth Century
- Twentieth Century
- Twenty-First Century/Contemporary