CHID 110 A: The Question of Human Nature

THE QUESTION OF HUMAN NATURE (AH, SSC) ___ WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN IN AN ERA OF HUMAN-DRIVEN MASS EXTINCTION IN THIS COURSE, WE WILL TRACE HOW "THE HUMAN" HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED IN WESTERN CULTURE THROUGH THE EXCLUSION OF A RACIALIZED AND ANIMALIZED 'OTHER.' DRAWING ON FRAMEWORKS AND METHODS FROM INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGIES, CRITICAL ANIMAL STUDIES, MULTISPECIES ETHNOGRAPHY, AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES, WE WILL EXPLORE WHAT IT MEANS TO DECENTER THE HUMAN AND WHA SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND ECOLOGICAL WORLDS THIS MAKES POSSIBLE. SYLLABU WILL UTILIZE SCHOLARSHIP, LITERATURE, FILM, TELEVISION, PODCASTS, AND MORE; STUDENTS WILL PURSUE A CREATIVE OR ACADEMIC PROJECT OF THEIR CHOICE RELATED TO COURSE THEMES.