Final Assessment
What can you do with your new understanding of the animal-human relationship? Consider the photograph on the right. After the state of Michigan legalized trophy hunting of the state's gray wolf population, a group of citizens challenged the law through a ballot referendum. What issues in the animal-human relationship are you interested in addressing, and how can you address them?
In the final assessment, you'll answer questions like these as you complete an action research project in which you address an issue of your choice in the animal-human relationship. You'll also share your work with a community of your choice. |
By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters - gray wolfUploaded by Dolovis, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31314423
|
Assessment Tasks
Now that you've learned about animal studies, multispecies imagination, and value paradigms, it's time to apply those concepts to an issue of your choice in the animal-human relationship. Having completed Journal Entries #1, #2, and #3, you may already have an idea of an issue you're interested in addressing. However, if you don't, check out the Humane Society of the United States's list of animal issues. Their list certainly isn't complete, but it is quite thorough.
After you've chosen an issue, learn more about it by doing a Google search and identifying several high-quality sources about it. Read those sources, and think about what you can do to effectively address the issue. In my experience, students tend to think that the most effective action they can take is to hand out pamphlets, post on social media, or otherwise raise people's awareness of an issue. While there's nothing wrong with raising awareness, there are often more effective actions you can take. For ideas for actions, check out Gene Sharp's 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action. Some of the ideas are impracticable, but others are promising.
Once you've decided on an action, plan and complete it. To help plan your action, develop and follow a work plan using this Work Plan Template. As you complete your plan, take notes in the work plan or a separate document so you can later reflect on what went well and what could have gone better. Also consider taking photographs or otherwise recording the action.
After you've completed your action, create a reflection on it using the Final Assessment Rubric. The aim of this reflection is not to inform me what you did, but rather to help you evaluate your understanding of animal studies, its key concepts, and your action. It's also to help you share your efforts with other people. For that reason, I encourage you to create it in a medium that will help you evaluate your understanding and share your efforts. If that medium is an essay, that's great, but if it's a podcast, video, or something else, that's great, too! When you complete your reflection, please share it with me so I can see what you did!
Now that you've learned about animal studies, multispecies imagination, and value paradigms, it's time to apply those concepts to an issue of your choice in the animal-human relationship. Having completed Journal Entries #1, #2, and #3, you may already have an idea of an issue you're interested in addressing. However, if you don't, check out the Humane Society of the United States's list of animal issues. Their list certainly isn't complete, but it is quite thorough.
After you've chosen an issue, learn more about it by doing a Google search and identifying several high-quality sources about it. Read those sources, and think about what you can do to effectively address the issue. In my experience, students tend to think that the most effective action they can take is to hand out pamphlets, post on social media, or otherwise raise people's awareness of an issue. While there's nothing wrong with raising awareness, there are often more effective actions you can take. For ideas for actions, check out Gene Sharp's 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action. Some of the ideas are impracticable, but others are promising.
Once you've decided on an action, plan and complete it. To help plan your action, develop and follow a work plan using this Work Plan Template. As you complete your plan, take notes in the work plan or a separate document so you can later reflect on what went well and what could have gone better. Also consider taking photographs or otherwise recording the action.
After you've completed your action, create a reflection on it using the Final Assessment Rubric. The aim of this reflection is not to inform me what you did, but rather to help you evaluate your understanding of animal studies, its key concepts, and your action. It's also to help you share your efforts with other people. For that reason, I encourage you to create it in a medium that will help you evaluate your understanding and share your efforts. If that medium is an essay, that's great, but if it's a podcast, video, or something else, that's great, too! When you complete your reflection, please share it with me so I can see what you did!
Works Cited
Humane Society of the United States. (n. d.). All our fights. Retrieved from https://www.humanesociety.org/all-our-fights
Sharp, G. (n. d.). 198 methods of nonviolent action. Retrieved from https://www.aeinstein.org/nonviolentaction/198-methods-of-nonviolent-action/
Sharp, G. (n. d.). 198 methods of nonviolent action. Retrieved from https://www.aeinstein.org/nonviolentaction/198-methods-of-nonviolent-action/