Rhetoric of Animality
Rhetoric and Communications · 3 hrs Lecture
Offered: Fall Or Winter, Every Year
RHET-2142 prerequisites
We couldn't read this course's prerequisites into a chain. The wording is under “Requisite courses” below.
Where RHET-2142 counts
Counts toward 3 more as one option among several, not as a course you must take:
Read from the departments' own calendar pages, where 50 of 208 programs are only partly machine-readable, so treat these as a minimum rather than the full list. Confirm with an academic advisor.
Description
This course examines what has come to be known in the humanities as "the question of the animal". It considers how moral discourse in the West has failed to grapple with the physical and metaphysical presence of non-human animals. Students examine how the moral status of animals has been theorized in Western thought. Students interrogate the different tropes used to uphold the human-animal distinction, including the idea that speech, communication, and reason confer a special status upon humanity. Students engage a wide range of writings addressing "the question of the animal". Students taking a Major in Rhetoric and Communications must complete Academic Writing before taking this course.
Requisite courses
Any section of Academic Writing or exemption from the Writing requirement [prerequisite(s)]; Completion of 24 credit hours [prerequisite(s)].
From the 2026-27 undergraduate calendar. Always verify details on WebAdvisor or with an academic advisor before registering.