Animal Welfare and Society

You will explore connections and relationships between humans and other animals, and critically review theories, philosophies and issues concerning the treatment of them. You will study a range of issues including animal welfare; animal ethics; animal law; consuming animals; criminality and animals; animal representations; animals and policy; environment and animals; and animal advocacy.

Throughout the course you explore crucial questions about human relationships with other animals. How do we understand them? What are our responsibilities to them? Should we eat them? Why do we develop emotional attachments to them? Why do we vilify some animals and not others? An essential element of the course is how humans relate to other animals, and what it means to be human.

This interdisciplinary course engages with scholarly work from the arts and humanities, social sciences and natural sciences in order to examine how humans may reconsider their relationship with animals. The broad scope and thought-provoking content enables you to discover and explore your areas of interest.

The course is both classroom-based and field-based. Through internships and other work-placement opportunities you are able to experience working with animals and/or are organisations associated with animal issues.