People and Pets

This seminar studies how relations among pets and humans have changed over the past two centuries. Reading across humanities and social science disciplines, we will consider the unexpected connections that link pets to specific articulations of gender, race, sexuality, class, ability, and species. Arranged topically and historically, the seminar considers issues ranging from the gendered development of cat breeds in Victorian England to the racial politics of modern dog rescue. We will study animal companions not as passive receptacles of human culture, but rather as beings with agency who have co-determined their places in our lives.