Topic: "Animals and Animal Rights"
Meets only in Discussion TR

This course will examine the relationships of human and non-human animals through the lens
of what has come to be known over the past 20 years as "animal rights."  We will begin the
semester by examining some important examples of how animals and animality have
traditionally been represented, and then move on to recent reassessments of what animals are
like and how we relate to them.  Do animals have consciousness?  Do they use language?  Do
they have emotions?  Should animals be considered persons or property?  What are the
implications for our everyday lives--what we eat, what we buy, what we wear--of how we
answer these questions?  Are our obligations to wild animals the same as to domesticated
animals?

We will explore these and other issues by combining readings in contemporary literary and
non-literary texts, and we will spend part of the course examining one or more of the major
areas of concern of the animal rights movement:  the use of animals in biomedical research and
cosmetic testing, for food, and in education and entertainment.  Paper assignments (5 or more
total) will focus on the structure of argumentation of claims of value as well as claims of
policy, and will also include some work in literary interpretation.

Note:  11:15-12:30 TR section is open to Honors students only.

Required Texts:

Italo Calvino, _Mr Palomar_
Rick Bass, _The Ninemile Wolves_
Peter Singer, ed., _In Defense of Animals_
Coursepack of essays, stories, and articles.