Animal Welfare

Catalog description

Animal welfare is a field that seeks to use scientific research to improve the wellbeing of animals. Wellbeing is the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy. Humans interact with animals in many ways, and humans are expressing growing concern for the way humans treat animals. This course will explore how humans have viewed animals throughout history, beginning with the ancient Greeks and eventually focusing on the current surge in scientific research being conducted on animal cognition and wellbeing. Students will be introduced to modern animal welfare assessment protocols, and each student will perform their own assessment and report their findings in the form of a term paper and oral presentation. The course may include field trips to the CWRU Animal Resource Center, the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, or other sites where live animals are housed. This course fulfills the Disciplinary Communication course requirement. Counts as a Disciplinary Communication course. Prereq: Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS) and BIOL 216 .