Animals in Society

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

Thirty-six hours of lectures and 24 hours of tutorials and practical work

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This course is designed to encourage students to begin to think about how and why animals are so integral to human society. We will investigate the human-animal relationships, where they originated, during domestication, and where they are now. We will examine in detail some key relationships between humans and animals, including animals as pets, in agriculture, as research subjects, in educational roles and as pests. We will discuss the changing attitudes of humans towards animals throughout time and talk about humankind's moral and ethical obligation to animal wellbeing. Within this discussion we will introduce animal welfare science and discuss some of the current animal welfare issues in livestock industries around the world. Finally, we will look to the future and where the relationship between humans and animals may be headed.

• Appreciate the physical, social and psychological interdependence that exists between humans and nonhuman animals
• Comprehend the complexity of debate concerning the costs and benefits to humans and animals of having animals embedded within our societies.
• Be familiar with the historical, social, economic, cultural, biological and moral contexts within which out current relationships with non-human animals have developed and
  are maintained.

• 1000 word research essay (20%) – end of week 10,
• 750 word excursion report (15%) – end of week 5,
• 4 x 12 question multiple choice quizzes (conducted on LMS) – 2.5% each (total 10%), Media Journal (collection of 10 articles presented with 2-3 sentence summaries and a classification) (5%) end of week 3,6,9, and 12,
• 3 hour end of semester examination (50%).

N/A

N/A

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Upon completion of the course students should be skilled at using the knowledge acquired in the course to objectively and critically evaluate current issues involving animals in society - including issues with wild animals, recreational animals, animals used for science and medicine, agricultural animals and companion animals.

N/A