{"id":76917,"date":"2026-02-03T08:02:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=76917"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:03:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:03:50","slug":"how-animals-have-shaped-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/how-animals-have-shaped-us\/","title":{"rendered":"How animals have shaped us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humans have lived alongside animals for tens of thousands of years\u2014hunting them, taming them, worshipping them\u00a0and,\u00a0more recently, dressing them in sweaters and giving them\u00a0Instagram accounts. Anthropologists have been turning their attention to this relationship\u2014not just\u00a0how\u00a0humans have shaped animals, but how animals have shaped what it means to be human.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Department of Anthropology teaching professor\u00a0<\/span>Chrissina\u00a0Burke<\/span><\/b>\u00a0teaches the\u00a0ANT 105\u00a0<\/span>course<\/span>\u00a0Anthropology Today:\u00a0Human and Animal Interactions\u00a0at NAU, where students\u00a0use anthropological concepts to learn\u00a0about\u00a0the relationship\u00a0between\u00a0humans and animals\u00a0through time\u00a0across\u00a0the\u00a0globe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a\u00a0zooarchaeologist,\u00a0I study animal bones in archeological sites,\u201d Burke said. \u201cThe idea for the class started\u00a0as a way to\u00a0engage\u00a0with\u00a0the relationships between humans and animals\u00a0that are often inferred from those bones,\u00a0using a\u00a0cultural and linguistic approach, instead of only an archaeological one. It is a small\u00a0subspecialty\u00a0within anthropology called anthrozoology.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The topic of the class allows students to have deep discussions and understand different points of view in a low-stakes environment.\u00a0The\u00a0course\u00a0readings and conversations\u00a0are guided by two questions: How do we engage with animals and use them in our\u00a0cultures?\u00a0And\u00a0how\u00a0do our relationships with animals support\u00a0our success as humans?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Burke said the course covers interactions with animals through different disciplines,\u00a0including\u00a0biology,\u00a0archaeology\u00a0and anthropology.\u00a0Students\u00a0investigate\u00a0how\u00a0animals have\u00a0influenced technology\u00a0(think\u00a0flying) and\u00a0art\u00a0(think the\u00a0ancient\u00a0drawings at\u00a0Lascaux\u00a0Cave\u00a0in France).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout\u00a0history,\u00a0animals\u00a0have been used as religious and political symbols,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have been buried along with humans and have been\u00a0a\u00a0part of human history.\u00a0In the class we also discuss\u00a0zoos, testing on animals, Buddhism and vegetarianism, hunting and vegan choices\u00a0and\u00a0the evolution of\u00a0keeping\u00a0animals as pets.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The class ends with an epic finale where students create an argumentative debate outline using a final question: Could\u00a0humans be the\u00a0cultural, emotional,\u00a0innovative\u00a0and successful creatures\u00a0we are without the temporal and spatial relationships we have developed with animals?\u00a0Student\u00a0groups\u00a0pick\u00a0a\u00a0side,\u00a0do the research, create a\u00a0presentation\u00a0and show examples that support their argument. Later, they design a flag to\u00a0represent\u00a0their group.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey work in groups all semester and learn how to discuss a topic, speak in front of a class and debate in a low-stakes environment,\u201d Burke said. \u201cI\u00a0encourage\u00a0my students to play devil\u2019s advocate\u00a0and try not to always agree with the\u00a0arguments, to pick apart the questions and decide if they agree on\u00a0all the\u00a0different parts. This helps them engage and strengthen their resolve for the future.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ANT 105:\u00a0Anthropology Today:\u00a0Human and Animal Interactions\u00a0is\u00a0offered every\u00a0spring\u00a0semester.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>For more information see the class catalog<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Humans have lived alongside animals for tens of thousands of years\u2014hunting them, taming them, worshipping them\u00a0and,\u00a0more recently, dressing them in sweaters and giving them\u00a0Instagram accounts. Anthropologists have been turning their attention to this relationship\u2014not just\u00a0how\u00a0humans have shaped animals, but how animals have shaped what it means to be human.\u00a0\u00a0 Department of Anthropology teaching professor\u00a0Chrissina\u00a0Burke\u00a0teaches the\u00a0ANT…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":76918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics","category-student-edition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}