Course Description: Humans & Animals
We’re surrounded by animals all day - our pets, food, wildlife, even the products we use. Yet our feelings about these animals vary wildly from person to person and across time and culture. In this class, we’ll explore the human-animal dynamic, its inconsistencies, and what our relationships with animals reveal about ourselves as human animals. Students will select their own research topics related to the broad theme of animals and humans, creating opportunities for projects drawing from morality and ethics, psychology, biology, anthrozoology, climate studies, and many others.
Required Text: Herzog, Hal. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat. Revised ed., Harper Perennial, 2021.
Location: Transy Library New Book Shelf QL85 .H47 2011
Suggested Searches & Brainstorming
Try these sample searches on your class topic in the library catalog:
Recommended Books & eBooks
Click on this link to search for books and articles on your topic. Type keywords relating to your topic in the box under "Search Everything."
Check out these books in print and/or online for further reading on your topic once you've gotten started.
Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change by ISBN: 9789004356184Publication Date: 2019-04-04
Animals and Medicine: The Contribution of Animal Experiments to the Control of Disease by ISBN: 9781783741175Publication Date: 2015-05-04
Animals and Society: An Introduction to Human-Animal Studies by ISBN: 0231551045Publication Date: 2021-04-13
Beyond Nature: Animal Liberation, Marxism, and Critical Theory by ISBN: 9789004466647Publication Date: 2021-08-19
Extinction and the Human Four American Encounters by ISBN: 9780812298055Publication Date: 2021-10-08
Impersonating Animals: Rhetoric, Ecofeminism, and Animal Rights Law by ISBN: 9781609176419Publication Date: 2020-08-01
Meatsplaining The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial by ISBN: 9781743327210Publication Date: 2020
The Rights of Nature : A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World by ISBN: 1770909664Publication Date: 2017-09-05
The Rise and Fall of Animal Experimentation : Empathy, Science, and the Future of Research by ISBN: 9780197665763Publication Date: 2023
Strangers to Nature: Animal Lives and Human Ethics by ISBN: 9780739145470Publication Date: 2012-03-22
Gather Background Information
Use broad reference materials to find out background information about your topic. This will help you narrow your future searches and will also give you keywords to find the most relevant sources. Credo can be a good place to start for that first step in research.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference provides access to a large number of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and other reference books. Subjects covered include art, biography, history, literature, music, religion, and science and technology.
- Animal RightsProvides a mind map and articles on animal rights.
- Opposing Viewpoints In Context This link opens in a new window
Opposing Viewpoints In Context is a rich resource for debaters and includes pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more. A category on the National Debate Topic provides quick and easy access to content on frequently studied and discussed issues. Periodical content covers current events, news and commentary, economics, environmental issues, political science, and more.
- Animal RightsProvides information and sources about issues relating to animal rights.
Additional Databases--find scholarly articles
Multidisciplinary databases for all FYRS classes
Need more options? Library Databases A-Z
Scholarly Articles
Many articles on the topic of animal rights are published in the Journal of Animal Ethics. A few scholarly articles on topics relating to your course are below.
Library Session Materials 2025
News Resources
- NPR (National Public Radio) National Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that delivers breaking national and world news. Also top stories from business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts and culture.
- Newsbank : America's News This link opens in a new window
America’s News covers newspapers from around the country. Updated daily, this resource offers current and archived articles and video clips from news sources nationwide. It includes content for the Lexington Herald Leader. - Newspaper Source This link opens in a new window
Provides selected full text for 25 national (U.S.) and international newspapers. The database also contains full text television & radio news transcripts, and selected full text for more than 200 regional (U.S.) newspapers. - New York Times Academic Pass This link opens in a new window
To get full access to the nytimes.com website create an account at the site linked above using your Transy.edu email address. Don't forget to check your email to verify. - WSJ.com (The Wall Street Journal) sign up This link opens in a new window
Get full access to the business newspaper of record, The Wall Street Journal, website using your Transy.edu email address. Create your personal account at http://wsj.com/transy, then go to your email to verify. Read the Wall Street Journal at wsj.com
Films & Podcasts
A few films and a podcast on the treatment of animals are below.
- "Speaking on Behalf of Animals." The Green Interview, 2016. Films on Demand.This episode of the Green Interview features Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and Executive Director of Animal Justice, a not for profit legislative fund dedicated to advocating for the humane treatment of animals. As a lawyer she defends activists and animals in the courts including the Supreme Court and works on campaigns that seek further protection for animals, particularly farm animals.
- Animal Undercover: Inside Secret America. National Geographic, 2013. Films on Demand.In this episode, investigative journalists Mariana van Zeller and Darren Foster explore the debate between the animal agricultural industry and the animal rights movement. Follow undercover investigators as they expose abuse and cruelty to animals on factory farms. Please preview footage for potentially disturbing material.
- Humane Voices"Humane Voices" explores the issues facing animals, interviews worldwide animal experts and discusses what you can do to get involved and help.
Citation Information
- "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL, Purdue U Writing Lab, 2022This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
Your Librarian
300 N. Broadway
Lexington, KY 40508-1797