BCSC 183: Animal Minds

Offered: Fall

The course will attempt to look inside the minds of non-human animals. This field is interesting, fun, and constantly changing and very accessible no matter what your background. We will explore issues focusing on animal cognition, consciousness, emotion, and communication. The methodologies and approaches to issues of Animal Minds are broad and extremely varied, and we will attempt to integrate them and question critically their validity and value. The course will involve a variety of readings, films, lectures, and discussions. As we shall see, there is a wide range of beliefs concerning animal cognition, and we will also discuss issues related to the use of animals based on those beliefs.