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Animal Studies at Michigan State

Contact: Jessica A. Knoblauch, News Writer for Environmental Science and Policy Program: (517) 432-3823 or knoblau7@msu.edu

March 21, 2007

In response to the growing concern for animals that is sweeping both academia and applied settings, Michigan State University has implemented several programs and courses in the area of human-animal relationships in order to become a leader in the emerging field of animal studies.

Two New Animal Studies Courses Offered in 2007-08

Animals and Social Transformations (SOC 840) has received formal University Curriculum Committee approval and will be taught by Sociology Professor Linda Kalof for the first time in Spring 2008. This is the first known regularly scheduled graduate course in animal studies taught in a traditional disciplinary department. The course is an historical overview of the cultural relationship between humans and other animals and how those relationships have changed with changing social conditions. Both visual imagery and extracts from historical and literary sources will be used to experience the human-animal story throughout history. The course draws on a wealth of information about the animal-human relationship, covering a range of topics rarely discussed in animal cultural studies, such as the Black Plague, dead animal portraiture and animal rituals that reflect hierarchies of gender, race and class, including the medieval backwards ride, horning ceremonies and animal massacres. The course will be taught every Spring primarily to graduate students in sociology, history and anthropology, but is open to all interested students in the university. Contact Linda Kalof at LKalof@msu.edu .

Animals, People and Nature (ACR 891) graduate seminar will be offered in the Fall 2007. Professor Kalof will teach the course to all interested graduate students, with a focus on students in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The seminar will examine one of the most fiercely debated topics in contemporary science and culture: the animal question – or, what is the fitting role of animals in human culture and of humans in animal culture? Through the lens of interdisciplinary contemporary scholarship, we will study 1) animals as philosophical and ethical subjects, 2) animals as reflexive thinkers, 3) animals as domesticates, “pets” and food, 4) animals as spectacle and sport, 5) animals as symbols, and 6) animals as scientific objects. We will reflect on the use of animals in a wide range of therapies, from rehabilitating young criminals to comforting the end-of-life experiences of the elderly. Finally we will examine the thorny question of the meaning of nature and its reconfiguration from a binary purified category to a fluid nature-culture network composed of actants-in-relation (including humans, nonhumans, technologies, the organic and the mechanic).  Contact Linda Kalof at LKalof@msu.edu .

Animal Studies in Sociology

In addition to course development in animal studies, Sociology Professor Linda Kalof has been writing about the human-animal relationship for almost a decade, primarily in the area of animal imagery in popular culture, human attitudes toward animals, conservation and biodiversity. She has published The Animals Reader: The Essential Classic and Contemporary Writings (with Amy Fitzgerald). This annotated anthology is the first general, multidisciplinary overview of the contemporary and classic writings in animal studies. She has also published Looking at Animals in Human History , a historical survey of the cultural representations of animals from prehistory to postmodernity that documents how those representations have changed with changing social conditions. In addition, Kalof is general editor of the multi-volume book series, A Cultural History of Animals , which will include her volume on Animals in the Ancient World (with contributions from some of the most established animal studies scholars in the western world).

Kalof's former doctoral student, Amy Fitzgerald (now an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Windsor ) also studies human-animal relationships. Based on a multivariate analysis of 10 year panel data, her recently completed dissertation substantiates the claim that there is something unique and pernicious about the effects of slaughterhouses on the surrounding community's well-being, a notion popularized more than 100 years ago by Upton Sinclair in The Jungle . Fitzgerald has also published a book based on her master's thesis, Animal Abuse and Family Violence , a qualitative study of the connection between domestic violence and the abuse of family pets.

Animal Legal & Historical Web Center
www.animallaw.info

College of Law Professor David Favre (Editor-in-Chief) and Rebecca Wisch (Assistant Editor ) are approaching their fourth year maintaining a comprehensive website devoted to animal law. There are presently over 700 full text cases (US, Historical and UK ) and 975 U.S.  statutes on animal law fully available on the site, with Michigan and California being very comprehensive. Information on more than 38 animal-related topics is available to users, including a number of legal articles addressing a wide variety of animal topics, expert explanations and materials, including policies, publications, briefs and historical documents. It also includes navigation through topics, laws, subject areas and species as well as a general search engine for queries relating to animal law.

Containing legal materials at the statewide, national and international levels, the web site includes a wide variety of animal related legal issues such as animal fighting, genetic engineering, exotic pets, and anti-cruelty laws. Favre hopes that the site will eventually serve as the sole destination for individuals seeking legal information and publications on all animal-related issues.

Animal Studies in Philosophy

Studies relating to animals have been important themes in philosophy since antiquity. Dr. Paul Thompson, the W. K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics at MSU, raises these philosophical questions regarding animals in classes and seminars designed to educate students about the philosophical underpinnings of animal studies.

Animal studies has a place in many of the key subfields of philosophy such as metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of mind and political philosophy. Thompson's Animal Ethics class is central to the issue of ethics and is focused on the moral standing of animals and their ability to reason. Questions such as whether animals experience pain or deprivation, among others, are raised in the classroom.

The question of whether animals have the ability to reason is always raised when looking at animals from a philosophical standpoint. On the surface this seems like a fairly straightforward question. However, it must first be determined what reason is in order to decide whether animals have this quality. “Previous work on animals teaches us that there are probably a lot of fairly specific and distinct kinds of activities that illustrate reasoning,” said Thompson. “But, you have to ask whether that means that the animal has some kind of mental map of the world or if they are simply responding to stimuli.”

The answers to these questions have moral implications for institutions in the animal industry, said Thompson. Over the years, philosophers have contributed to the development of guidelines for the use of animals in scientific research. If it is determined that animals can indeed feel pain, how are people in the veterinarian or animal research profession to respond?

The Animal Ethics course is intended for students across all disciplines, especially those who are focusing on pre-veterinarian, animal agriculture or zoology program studies. “It's a broadly applicable course that is useful to anybody who's interested in any dimension in cognitive science,” said Thompson. He added that the course is not just about studying animals. “You study animals to understand them just as much as to understand people,” said Thompson.

A class titled Animal Studies in Philosophy will be offered in the Fall of 2007. For more information, please contact Professor Thompson at thomp649@msu.edu .

Animal Welfare Application and Assessment

Dr. Janice Siegford, a research assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State , teaches several animal welfare courses during the academic year. Usually, these types of courses are rarely found in the United States . However, that is all changing as the industry is becoming more scrutinized by the public for animal welfare, said Siegford.

Among the courses taught at MSU is Applied Animal Behavior, ANS 305. Though the course is geared towards animal science students who tend to have a pre-veterinary focus, Dr. Siegford stressed that anyone who is interested in animal production, the study of wild animals in captivity, and the domestic animal industry should consider taking the course as well. “If you are dealing with animals you should have an understanding of behavior so that you're able to respond to your animals appropriately,” said Siegford.

The course focuses on several aspects of animal behavior and welfare, including teaching the principles behind animal behavior, the domestication of species, the study of behavioral science and evolution shapes behavior among other things. The course also emphasizes specific species' behavior and basic animal training skills.

Students will receive hands-on experience through several trips scheduled to the campus farms as well as trips to Potter Park Zoo for demonstrations of environmental enrichment. Students will conduct experiments on site, with the hopes that they will be able to collect usable data. “The goal of this course is to provide students with very practical management-based application for their new knowledge of animal behavior,” said Siegford. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to observe animal behavior through video footage of several species of animals.

Siegford also teaches Animal Welfare Assessment, ANS 805, a graduate level course offered online which can be taken for credit through Michigan State by both MSU and non-MSU students.

The course's objective is to provide graduate and veterinary students with high-quality didactic content and the opportunity to objectively assess animal welfare. Students are able to assess animals in their environment through the use of virtual tools that allow them to “go” to multiple farms and compare and contrast them. Since the welfare of an animal can be subjective, the course enlisted a panel of experts to develop a gold standard of animal welfare. Students compare their assessment to those of the panel, and are graded on their understanding of welfare sciences as well as the strength of their argument, thereby emphasizing critical thinking and reasoning.

Because the course is offered online, students are able to get unique access to a broad network of animal welfare professionals and researchers. “We were able to get a slew of great people who are really well-respected in their field,” said Siegford.

Among the experts available to the students are Professor Donald Broom and Professor David Fraser, two men who are considered the fathers of animal welfare. “It's a really great collaborative course with a worldwide component.”

Zoo Animal Welfare

MSU also offers courses which deal in part with animal welfare in the zoo and aquarium environment. Dr. Richard Snider, an MSU zoology professor who teaches zoo animal welfare, explains that it's important to look at the welfare of captive animals because the treatment of the animal often has a great impact on their health. “We're concerned about the treatment of animals, and are looking at ways to enrich the lives of captive animals in order to help relieve unnecessary stress,” said Snider.

Studies in the food animal industry have shown that better animal welfare often leads to a healthier animal and a better meat product, said Snider. This conclusion can be applied to captive animals as well. “If you build a holding area that contributes to the animal's welfare, it's going to relieve stress and produce a healthier and happier animal.”

Currently, the captive animal industry is slowly moving to better animal welfare due in large part to the fact that accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which sets certain standards based on animal management and care, is becoming more important to zoos and aquariums. As a result, animals in captivity are living a healthier life than ever before, said Snider.

Because industry is beginning to focus on the welfare of captive animals, there is a great need for students who are interested in learning about stress therapy for these animals. As a result, the Animal Behavior and Welfare Group at MSU has received a lot of attention both from potential students and from other universities who are starting up similar programs. “It's exciting from our standpoint and from the student's standpoint,” said Snider.

Protector and Friend:
The Human-Animal Bond Initiative at MSU

Animals have served humans in a number of roles over time, most notably the role of companion and protector. Anyone who comes home after a hard day and is cheerfully greeted by an animal understands the power of the human-animal bond. Additionally, service animals that act as the eyes and ears of handicapped individuals also have an impact on a person's quality of life. Although well understood on a personal level, the human-animal bond has been studied scientifically only on a limited basis.

In response to these needs, the MSU College of Nursing developed the Human-Animal Bond Initiative, a program which strives to better understand the interactions between humans and animals, to assess how animals enrich people's lives, and to improve the quality of life for both humans and the animals. “We're specifically interested in scientifically validating the importance of the interaction between humans and animals,” explained Lana Kaiser, a professor in the College of Nursing and the College of Human Medicine who spearheaded the program.

The study of the human-animal bond is especially significant in the area of nursing where the goal is to understand and ease the symptoms of acute and chronic illness, to prevent or delay the onset of disease or disability or slow its progression, and to find effective approaches to achieving and sustaining good health. Since animals are often considered family members, it is only natural to incorporate them into total patient care.

To determine the scientific importance of the human-animal bond, members of the initiative conduct research projects that involve animals performing therapeutic roles. Current research projects include the study of the role of companion animals in the adaptation of chronically ill children, therapeutic riding, and dogs serving as nursing home visitors. The therapeutic riding project not only looked at the human impact of riding a horse, but the emotional well-being of the animal itself. “It's important to make sure the animal isn't subjected to any additional stress as a result of the therapeutic activity,” said Kaiser.

Members of the Human-Animal Bond Initiative meet monthly to discuss human/animal interactions. Those who are interested in learning more about the Human-Animal Bond Initiative can contact Lana Kaiser at Kaiser@msu.edu or visit their Web site at http://nursing.msu.edu/habi/index.html .

New MSU Program Counsels Pet Owners, Veterinary Staff
newsroom.msu.edu

A new program strictly for humans is now available at the Michigan State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital – the MSU Veterinary Social Work Services.

A first of its kind in Michigan , the program offers counseling services for pet owners, veterinarians, veterinary technicians and other staff.

“We provide crisis counseling for pet owners whose pets have serious medical conditions or who are facing grief from pet loss,” explained Amanda Morgan, a master's student in social work and intern.

The program's primary goals are to alleviate crisis situations for pet owners and provide support for veterinary staff members. While some pet owners have begun to seek counseling services, many are first contacted informally while waiting for their pet's appointment or services to be completed.

“Losing a pet is a traumatic experience,” said Morgan.

A pet is a “member of the family,” she said, and nonpet owners don't understand the human-animal bond that is formed between pet and owner. When a pet passes away, owners experience grief, sometimes lasting months.

“We are here to normalize people's grief over losing a pet,” Morgan said. “Socially, people are often told to ‘get over' losing a pet and that the pet is ‘just a dog' or ‘just a cat.'”

The social work program is planning to start a pet loss support group and a veterinary technician support group. Research has shown that veterinary staff often experience “compassion fatigue” or a form of stress resulting in caring or working with others who are suffering. The support group will help veterinary technicians work through their feelings and learn coping skills.

H-Animal

H-Animal is the H-Net Network on Animal Studies. This is a discussion list for scholars interested the interdisciplinary study of animals in human culture. The list hosts book reviews, conference announcements, and conversations on research and teaching. The Network's website has bibliographic, organizational, and pedagogical resources (http://www.h-net.org/~animal/ ). The H-Net Network is hosted by MSU's MATRIX, The Center for Humane, Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online, which serves the emerging fields and disciplines resulting from the integration of the humanities with information technologies.