Animals, Food, & the Environment: Crises, Causes & Solutions

Catalog description

This course examines how human use of non-human animals in industrial animal agriculture has contributed to the leading environmental crises of our day, including climate harms, water conflicts and pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, environmental justice problems, and zoonotic disease risk. Consideration of each topic will start with understanding the nature and urgency of the problem, and then move to exploring solutions grounded in changing our ways of interacting with animals. The course will draw from multiple disciplines - from science to ethics to law and policy - to offer students a broad, integrative perspective on the role of animals in environmental systems and food production. Through a series of case studies and guest speakers, students will have the opportunity to engage with a diverse range of issues that lie at the intersection of environmental and animal protection. We will explore some of the tools that can be used to combat these problems, including law and policy levers, scientific and technological advancements, market-based solutions, and community-based organizing/social change movements. In addition to substantive exploration, the course will offer students the ability to connect and interact with experts working in relevant fields. Through the course, students will move beyond human-centered environmentalism and engage with the downsides of human exceptionalism in our relations with the natural world.