Anthrozoology, also known as human–nonhuman-animal studies (HAS), is the subset of
ethnobiology ]
Ethnobiology is the scientific study of the way living things are treated or used by different human cultures. It studies the dynamic relationships between people, biota, and environments, from the distant past to the immediate present.culture ...
that deals with
biological interaction, interactions between
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
s and other
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s. It is an
interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...
field that overlaps with other
disciplines including
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
,
ethnology
Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...
,
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...
,
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
,
social work
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
,
veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
, and
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...
. A major focus of anthrozoologic research is the quantifying of the positive effects of human–animal relationships on either party and the study of their
interactions. It includes scholars from fields such as anthropology, sociology, biology, history and philosophy.
Anthrozoology scholars, such as
Pauleen Bennett recognize the lack of scholarly attention given to non-human animals in the past, and to the relationships between human and non-human animals, especially in the light of the magnitude of animal representations, symbols, stories and their actual physical presence in human societies. Rather than a unified approach, the field currently consists of several methods adapted from the several participating disciplines to encompass human–nonhuman animal relationships and occasional efforts to develop ''
sui generis'' methods.
Areas of study
* The
interaction
Interaction is action that occurs between two or more objects, with broad use in philosophy and the sciences. It may refer to:
Science
* Interaction hypothesis, a theory of second language acquisition
* Interaction (statistics)
* Interaction ...
and enhancement within
captive animal interactions.
*
Affective
Affect, in psychology, refers to the underlying experience of feeling, emotion or mood.
History
The modern conception of affect developed in the 19th century with Wilhelm Wundt. The word comes from the German ''Gefühl'', meaning "feeling."
...
(emotional) or relational bonds between humans and animals
* Human perceptions and beliefs in respect of other animals
* How some animals fit into human societies
* How these vary between cultures, and change over times
* The study of
animal domestication
The domestication of animals is the mutual relationship between non-human animals and the humans who have influence on their care and reproduction.
Charles Darwin recognized a small number of traits that made domesticated species different fro ...
: how and why
domestic animal
This page gives a list of domesticated animals, also including a list of domestication of animals, animals which are or may be currently undergoing the process of domestication and animals that have an extensive relationship with humans beyond simp ...
s evolved from wild species (paleoanthrozoology)
* Captive
zoo animal bonds with keepers
* The social construction of animals and what it means to be animal
* The human–animal bond
* Parallels between human–animal interactions and human–technology interactions
* The symbolism of animals in literature and art
* The history of animal
domestication
Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...
* The intersections of
speciesism, racism, and sexism
* The place of animals in human-occupied spaces
* The religious significance of animals throughout human history
* Exploring the cross-cultural
ethical treatment of animals
* The critical evaluation of
animal abuse
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suff ...
and exploitation
* Mind, self, and
personhood in nonhuman animals
* The potential human health benefits of companion animal ownership
Growth of the field
There are currently 23 college programs in HAS or a related field in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Israel and the Netherlands, as well as an additional eight veterinary school programs in North America, and over thirty HAS organizations in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, Israel, Sweden, and Switzerland.
In the UK, the University of Exeter runs an MA in Anthrozoology which explores human–animal interactions from anthropological (cross-cultural) perspectives. Human animal interactions (HAI) involving companion animals are also studied by the
Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, which partners with the US
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...
to research HAI in relation to child development and aging.
There are now three primary lists for HAS scholars and students—H-Animal, the Human-Animal Studies listserv, and NILAS, as well as the Critical Animal Studies list.
There are now over a dozen journals covering HAS issues, many of them founded in the last decade, and hundreds of HAS books, most of them published in the last decade (see for example, ''Humanimalia''). Brill, Berg, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Columbia, Reaktion, Palgrave-Macmillan, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, and Oxford all offer either a HAS series or a large number of HAS books.
In addition, in 2006, Animals and Society Institute (ASI) began hosting the Human-Animal Studies Fellowship, a six-week program in which pre- and post-doctoral scholars work on a HAS research project at a university under the guidance of host scholars and distance peer scholars. Beginning in 2011, ASI has partnered with Wesleyan Animal Studies, who will be hosting the fellowship in conjunction with ASI. There are also a handful of HAS conferences per year, including those organized by ISAZ and NILAS, and the Minding Animals conference, held in 2009 in Australia. Finally, there are more HAS courses being taught now than ever before. The ASI website lists over 300 courses (primarily in North America, but also including Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, and Poland) in 29 disciplines at over 200 colleges and universities, not including over 100 law school courses.
See also
*
Animal behavior
*
ABMAP
*
Animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...
*
Animal studies
*
Anthropomorphism
*
Birds in culture
*
Cognitive ethology
*
Companion animal
*
Critical animal studies
*
Domestication of the horse
A number of hypotheses exist on many of the key issues regarding the domestication of the horse. Although horses appeared in Paleolithic cave art as early as 30,000 BCE, these were wild horses and were probably hunted for meat.
How and when ho ...
*
Ethnozoology
*
Human–animal bonding
Human bonding is the process of development of a close, interpersonal relationship between two or more people. It most commonly takes place between family members or friends, but can also develop among groups, such as sporting teams and whenev ...
*
Human–canine bond
*
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...
*
Insects in culture
*
Origin of the domestic dog
*
Pauleen Bennett
*
Service animal
*
Social grooming
Social grooming is a behavior in which social animals, including humans, clean or maintain one another's body or appearance. A related term, allogrooming, indicates social grooming between members of the same species. Grooming is a major socia ...
*
Trans-species psychology
*
Zooarchaeology
References
External links
Animals and Society InstituteAnthrozoology Research GroupH-AnimalHuman-Animal Studies listserve*
Humanimalia: a journal of human-animal interface studies'
NILAS
{{Authority control
Animal rights
Animal welfare
Anthropology
Ethology
Interdisciplinary subfields of sociology
Environmental humanities
Environmental social science
Zoology