Animals as Spectacle

What does it mean to look at an animal on display and to consider what that experience means for the animal who endures it? This course examines how animals are spectacularized through entertainment economies—the circus, zoo, marine park, bullfighting ring, rodeo arena, and trophy-hunting safari—and their anthropocentric regimes. Working across critical animal, performance, and multispecies studies, archival sources, legal documents, and films (Blackfish, dir. Cowperthwaite, 2013; Afternoon of Solitude, dir. Serra, 2024; Le Havre, dir. Kaurismäki, 2011), we move from analyses of animal display toward sanctuary ethics, animal legal advocacy, and interspecies justice. Requirements include active seminar participation, periodic collection and informal presentation of documentary material, a formal in-class presentation on assigned course material, and individual research essay. FY students are welcome.