FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is anthrozoology?

Anthrozoology, is the term used to describe the scientific study of the human-animal relationship.

In reality, there is little homogeneity in anthrozoological research, certainly as far as disciplinary approach, methodology and theory is concerned. The academic backgrounds of anthrozoological researchers can be extremely varied. There are, for example, social scientists, psychologists, zoologists, ethologists, historians, philosophers, veterinarians and even physicians studying the human-animal relationship.

Where can I study anthrozoology?

The short answer is that you can't, at least not at present - certainly not at undergraduate level.

If you are interested in studying human-animal relationships, you will have to try to integrate this into the framework of an ordinary undergraduate degree. For example, by choosing some aspect of human-animal interactions as a topic for your undergraduate thesis.

Some university departments may well offer a study module about human-animal relationships, animal welfare, animal behaviour, etc. though only as small part of a broader degree course. A handful of these are listed on the Education page of this site. (For an extensive overview of college and university courses offered in the USA and Canada, please consult Jonathan Balcombe's (HSUS) article published in the journal Society and Animals Vol. 7, No. 3, 1999, pp. 229-240. Unfortunately, no similar survey of courses relating to animal ethics and welfare is currently available for other regions of the World.)

As an undergraduate, you will have to choose a broader discipline, such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, biology, zoology, etc., so that you are able to provide yourself with a good academic foundation, which will help you to get find employment in the future or allow you to go on to do a further degree or research.

Once you have your undergraduate degree, you will be able to try to embark on a career in the field of anthrozoology. The closest that you can then get is to studying anthrozoology per se is to follow a Masters degree and then go on to take a Ph.D. Currently, the only MA that is directed specifically at the study of human-animal relations is offered by Tufts University, USA.

Can you recommend some good books on human-animal relations?

Sure. Check out the list of literature on human-animal relations on this site.

Who designed your web site?

I did it myself; the old fashioned way - writing all the mark-up by hand! It is actually an incredibly simple design using a single table. I used a simple program, originally designed for Linux users, called 'The Gimp' to create the gif images and edit the photographs.