| What defines a human? What defines an animal? Throughout the course of human history, people have interacted with other animals, not only using them for food, clothing, labour and entertainment, but also associating with them as pets and companions, and even appreciating their behaviours intrinsically. Non-human animals have been our symbols and models, and they have even channeled the sacred for us. This course will explore the interactions of humans with other animals from roughly the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. A key theme of this course is the use of animality as a trope to justify the subjugation and dispossession of certain groups of peoples. |
