Giant Squid:Humans Animals

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

As Claude Levi-Strauss once remarked, animals are “good to think with.” Starting with this observation, we will investigate how humans use animals to “think” with: -what does it mean -how are animals used as metaphors and “organizing principles” for understanding ourselves and the world around us -how we relate to animals and why. The Giant Squid will serve as a kind of “index” animal for the course, and readings about the giant squid will appear throughout the course as we examine and think about other kinds of human/animal interactions.