Human-Animal Relationships

Abstract:

This course is the first part of the Ethics and Values Signature Program, which is one of the factors making Tufts unique in veterinary education. It is designed to enrich the student's understanding of various aspects of our individual and communal relationships with "animals" (or, to use scientific terminology, "other animals"), and to stimulate creative thinking about the expanding horizons of veterinary medicine, particularly those relevant to both traditional and newer forms of human-animal interaction. Class sessions, which include a major allocation of time for student participation, touch on a wide range of issues affecting companion animals, wildlife, farmed animals, research animals, public health, law, social and cultural values regarding nonhuman individuals and communities, and various forms of the human-animal bond. Emphasis is placed on prompting each student to think about and discuss the broader issues of veterinary medicine, such as the role(s) of the individual veterinarian, veterinary education, and the veterinary profession.
These eleven lectures are specifically designed for first-year students, and in particular to enrich your understanding of various aspects of human-animal relations. The deeper goal, as it were, is to stimulate thinking about some of the expanding horizons in veterinary medicine that involve changing perceptions of human-animal interactions.

Subject:

Science and Technology

Grade Level:

Post-secondary

SubTopics:

Animals and Insects

Collection:

Tufts University OpenCourseWare