Updated 07 March 2002
California State
University, Long Beach
History 495, Section 06 (Schedule Number 13936)
Colloquium: Human-Animal
Relationships in Historical Perspective
Spring Semester 2002
Tuesdays & Thursdays,
3:30 - 4:45 p.m.
Room LA1-309
Dr. Brett Mizelle
Office: Room
FO2-109
Office Hours: Tuesdays
& Thursdays 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.; Wednesdays 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. and
by appointment
E-Mail: dmizelle@csulb.edu
Website http://www.csulb.edu/~dmizelle/
Phone: 562-985-4424
(Office); 562-985-4431 (History Department)
Course Description:
This course will examine the roles
of human ideas about animals and animality in European and American
history. A major emphasis will be
placed on the way different discourses have represented the animal to define
human subjectivities and identities.
After beginning with theoretical questions about the historical
"thinkability" of animals, we will address western attitudes about
nature and culture, the creation of scientific systems of classification, the
development of an animal "exhibitionary complex," the invention of
petkeeping, and the emergence of human sensibilities about animals that have
culminated in the animal rights movement.
This course is an intensive
reading and writing seminar, primarily for history majors. As such,
approximately three-fourths of the semester will be devoted to exploring
human-animal relationships in historical perspective through common readings
and discussions. Students will
devote the remainder of the term to researching and writing a capstone-type
paper on a subject related to the course themes.
Required Course Texts:
The following books are required for this course and may be purchased at the University Bookstore. Additional readings are included in a course packet (number 1066), available at Copy Pro (corner of Palo Verde and Atherton streets, 562-431-9974).
Steve Baker, Picturing the
Beast: Animals, Identity, and Representation (Illinois, 2001).
Kathleen Kete, The Beast in the Boudoir: Petkeeping in Nineteenth Century Paris (California, 1995).
Ralph H. Lutts, ed., The
Wild Animal Story (Temple, 2001).
Harriet Ritvo, The Animal Estate: The English and Other
Creatures in the Victorian Age (Harvard, 1989).
Richard D. Ryder, Animal
Revolution: Changing Attitudes Toward Speciesism (Berg,
2000).
All students should also possess
both a quality dictionary to look up the many unfamiliar words you will
encounter this semester, a guide to analysis & writing in history (such as A
Student's Guide to History or A Pocket Guide to Writing in History)
and a style manual (the History Department recommends the Harbrace College
Handbook).
Course Assignments &
Grading:
1. Short essay drawing on our first two weeks of reading reflecting your understanding of the relevance of animals to the study of history, due February 19th (50 points)
2. Paper comparing the ways ideas about animals and animality
reflected human interests in the nineteenth century, due April 2nd (100 points)
3. Research paper proposal indicating your focus and including
relevant sources in a bibliography, due April 16th (50 points)
4. Research paper on a topic of your choice related to
human-animal relationships in history, rough draft due May 7th, final paper due
May 21st (200 points)
5. Attendance & regular participation in class discussions (100 points)
a. Attendance (20 points)
b. Participation (50 points)
c. Individual Conference with Instructor (10 points)
d. Research paper presentation (20 points)
Additional information about
these assignments will be distributed and discussed in class. Students earning between 451-500 points
will receive an A, between 401-450 points a B, 351-400 a C, and between 301-350
a D. Students earning fewer than 301 points will fail the class.
Course Policies:
Attendance: Because
we cover a great deal of material in this course, prompt and regular attendance
is a necessity. Students who miss
classes run the risk of receiving a failing grade or receiving a lower grade
than the student might have secured with regular attendance. Excused absences must be documented by
a doctor's note, a note from the Dean, or advance notice from the Athletic
Director. Absences for religious
observances are excused; please let me know of dates in advance. I allow two unexcused absences during
the semester; thereafter each subsequent unexcused absence will result in the
subtraction of points from your participation grade.
Classroom Environment: Feel
free to ask questions and express opinions in this course, approaching readings
and ideas actively and critically.
As you do so, however, please strive to be courteous to your fellow
students. To create a respectful
and productive environment please avoid unnecessary distractions (such as
ringing cell phones and beeping pagers) during class meetings.
Course
Readings: You are expected to have completed the
day's readings prior to coming to class and to be prepared to participate in
discussions. Always bring the texts we will be discussing to class.
Disability Accommodation: Any
student who feels that he or she may need an accommodation for any sort of
disability should make an appointment to see me during my office hours so we
can make arrangements for you to complete the requirements of the class.
Papers: All
work written outside the classroom must be typed or word-processed in a
standard 10 or 12 point font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. Your papers should, at a minimum, both
present and critically analyze the main theoretical and historical arguments in
your reading. All quotations must
be cited by using parenthetical references, footnotes, or endnotes. If you are unsure about how or what to
cite, please ask me. All papers
should have your name, the course title and number, the due date, and an
appropriate title or label for the assignment at the top. I strongly recommend that you keep
copies of all your work, either on paper or on disk, for your protection.
Your papers and exam essays
will be evaluated for earnest effort and thoughtful, coherent content. Remember to clearly state your thesis
and support your arguments with examples.
Usage and grammar are not major concerns of grading, but a minimum
mechanical competence to insure the "readability" of these papers is
expected. I expect that you will
proofread your papers and exams before handing them in. All assignments are due at the
beginning of class on the day assigned.
Electronic submission of papers is not allowed. If you know you are going to miss class
on dates assignments are due you must be proactive and request an extension in
advance. Late assignments will
lose 5 points for each calendar day late and will not be accepted more than one
week past their due date without a previously agreed to extension.
Plagiarism & Academic
Integrity: Students in this class will be held to a high standard of
academic integrity, which is defined as "the pursuit of scholarly activity
free from fraud and deception."
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating,
plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations, facilitating acts of
academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations,
submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the
instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. If I suspect all or part of an assignment may not be your
own intellectual work I will ask to see your notes or drafts. I also may
require electronic submission of the paper to facilitate running the paper
through the databases at Turnitin.com. If you have any questions
about academic integrity, please talk with me. I can and will fail a
student for major infractions.
Student Services: If you
need help with written assignments or require guidance on note-taking and
critical reading, please take advantage of the Writer's Resource Lab (LAB-312;
985-4329) or the Learning Assistance Center (Library East 12; 985-5350).
Technology: The CSULB Technology Help Desk is now available for
students. Help is available on a wide range of computer issues including:
BeachBoard, Windows and Mac OS, CSULB Internet Accounts, Remote Connectivity,
Microsoft Desktop Applications, Anti-Virus, Internet and Web related
topics. Visit them on the web at http://helpdesk.csulb.edu or contact the THD
by phone at 562-985-4959 or send email to helpdesk@csulb.edu. All students should
e-mail me (dmizelle@csulb.edu) during the first week of class in order to sign
up for the class distribution list.
Course Schedule:
Note: This syllabus is a work in progress and
may be changed during the semester as necessary and appropriate. Changes will be announced in class and
posted on the course web page. You
are responsible for knowing about any changes.
1 Jan 29: Introduction
Jan
31: Nature,
Culture, and Non-Human Animals
Reading: Raymond
Williams, "Ideas of Nature; John Berger, "Why Look at Animals?"
in CP
2 Feb 5: No Class Meeting
Reading: Yi-Fu
Tuan, "Animals: From Powers to Pets"; Jennifer Ham and Matthew
Senior, "Introduction" to Animal Acts in CP
Feb
7: Animals
are Good to Think
Reading: Robert
Darnton, "The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue St. Severin"; Erica
Fudge, "The Dangers of Anthropocentrism" and "The Creatures in
the Bear Garden" in CP
3 Feb 12: Theorizing
the Beast
Reading: Baker,
Picturing the Beast, forward, prefaces, & chapter 1
Feb
14: Animals and
Englishmen
Reading: Ritvo,
The Animal Estate, Introduction
4 Feb 19: Animals
and Englishmen, continued
Reading: Ritvo,
The Animal Estate, part 1
Short
Essay due
Feb
21: Animals
and Englishmen, continued
Reading: Ritvo,
The Animal Estate, part 2
5 Feb 26: Animals
and Englishmen, continued
Reading: Ritvo,
The Animal Estate, part 3
Feb 28: Animals, Indians & Americans
Reading: Virginia
Anderson, "Indians, Colonists, and the Problem of Livestock in Early New
England"; Daniel Justin Herman, "Prologue" and "Hunting as
a Way of Life" in CP
6 Mar 5: The
Cultural Work of American Animal Exhibitions
Reading: Peter
Benes, "To the Curious: Bird and Animal Exhibitions in New England,
1716-1825"; Brett Mizelle, "Monkeys, Apes and Human Identity in the
Early American Republic" in CP
Mar
7: Petkeeping
in America
Reading: Katherine
C. Grier, "Pet Keeping in Urban and Suburban Households in the Northeast,
1850-1900"; Nancy Carlisle, "Mementos of Pet Ownership in New
England" in CP
7 Mar 12: Petkeeping
in Paris
Reading: Kete,
The Beast in the Boudoir, introduction & chapters 1-2
Mar
14: Petkeeping
in Paris, continued
Reading: Kete,
The Beast in the Boudoir, chapters 3-5
8 Mar 19: Petkeeping
in Paris, continued
Reading: Kete,
The Beast in the Boudoir, chapters 6 to epilogue
Mar
21: No
Class Meeting
Spring
Break
9 Apr 2: Meat
/ Sex
Reading: Alexander
Cockburn, "A Short, Meat Oriented History of the World,"; Sue Coe,
"Growing Up on the Same Block as a Slaughterhouse" and "Farmer
Johns-Los Angeles"; Rebecca L. Spang, "Relating Gastronomic Exoticism
in the Siege of Paris"; Peter Singer, "Heavy Petting" in CP
Apr
4: Stories
About Wild Animals
Reading: Lutts,
The Wild Animal Story, chapter 1 & selected tales
10 Apr 9: The
Nature Fakers Controversy
Reading: Lutts,
The Wild Animal Story, chapter 32 and & selected essays
Paper
due
Apr
11: No
Class Meeting
11 Apr 16: Changing
Attitudes to Non-Human Animals
Reading: Ryder,
Animal Revolution, chapters 1-6
Research
paper proposals & bibliographies due
Apr
18: Changing
Attitudes to Non-Human Animals, continued
Reading: Ryder,
Animal Revolution, chapters 7-10
12 Apr 23: Changing
Attitudes to Non-Human Animals, continued
Reading: Ryder,
Animal Revolution, chapters 11-13
Apr
25: Contesting the
Modern Animal Image
Reading: Baker,
Picturing the Beast, chapter 2
13 Apr 30: Contesting the Modern Animal Image, continued
Reading: Baker,
Picturing the Beast, chapters 3-4
May
2: Contesting
the Modern Animal Image, continued
Reading: Baker,
Picturing the Beast, chapters 5-6
14 May 7: Revising
the Rough Draft
Rough draft of research papers due at the beginning of class
May
9: Individual
Consultations with Instructor
15 May 14-16: Student
Presentations
Finals May 21: Research
Papers due by 5pm in my office,
F02-109