SOCIOLOGY OF DOGS & OTHER CANIDS
How does the dog, as a thinking, feeling, socially-complex being, interact with humans in a shared environment?
Is the dog’s subjective agency recognized and allowed to flourish?
Is the dog an object, symbol, clown, prisoner, slave, tool, property, friend, family member, something else?
What is it like to be this particular dog and how might this dog’s experiences be typical or abnormal?
How is the dog’s lifeworld coproduced through interactions and relations with humans?
How is this dog’s existence and status determined by institutional conditions and cultural practices?
What can your observations tell you about nonhuman personhood?
Much of our readings and discussions will consider our ethical relations with other animals and you should address those ethical concerns in your paper.
What are our ethical obligations to companion animals and are they being met in the case you consider?
In her book, Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz suggests that by paying attention to dogs, we may gain some new sensory experiences of the world. What else might we learn from taking dogs seriously?
What does it mean to pay attention to a dog? What have you learned from this dog?
Has the course material helped you to understand dogs in a different way? How? What is significant about such an understanding? What are the broader implications?
