Lesson #2: Animal Studies and Multispecies Imagination
What is it like to experience the world from the perspective of another animal? Consider the photograph on the right. Many people consider animals like the brown marmorated stink bug to be pests and try to exterminate them, but stink bugs only enter our homes because they need the warmth and dryness to survive. Would we treat these animals differently if we were able to see the world as they do?
In this lesson, you'll answer questions like these as you learn about multispecies imagination, the ability to take the perspective of other animals. You'll also apply multispecies imagination to your daily interactions with another animal. Lesson Objectives By the end of this lesson, you'll have met the following objectives:
Lesson Assessments As evidence that you've met the objectives, you'll complete the following assessments:
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By Matthew Bellemare - Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73794156
Multispecies Imagination is the ability to take the perspective of other animals.
For a more thorough definition, go to the conceptual toolbox. By Toolbox_icon.jpg: Tanemoriderivative work: ויקיג'אנקי - This file was derived from: Toolbox icon.jpg:, CC BY 2.1 jp, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26463947
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Learn
For the Learn activity, please watch the Lesson #2 Presentation. Please also read an excerpt from Elisabeth Tova Bailey's The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating and an excerpt from Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac. Multispecies imagination is the ability to take the perspective of other animals. It requires both scientific knowledge of other animals and empathy for those animals. For example, to take the perspective of a brown marmorated stink bug in my kitchen, I would need to not only know that they require warm, dry environments but also understand that they are trying to survive and do not intend to bother or harm me.
Please also read the Journal Entry #2 Example. If you'd like, you can also review the Journal Entry Rubric, Forum Comment Example, and Forum Comment Rubric to remind yourself how to write and assess your journal entries or comment on other students' forum posts and assess your comments. For this lesson's journal entry, which I describe in more detail below, you'll be choosing one of the animals from Journal Entry #1 and describing your interaction with that animal from their perspective. Then, you'll be reflecting on how describing your interaction with that animal from their perspective affected your understanding of your interactions with animals. Once you've written your entry, you'll share it with me so I can give you feedback on it. Next, you'll post it in the course forum so other students can read and comment on it. You'll also add it to a collaborative map of multispecies imagination so people outside the course can learn from it. Once you've posted it, you'll comment on other students' posts.
Checklist:
Please also read the Journal Entry #2 Example. If you'd like, you can also review the Journal Entry Rubric, Forum Comment Example, and Forum Comment Rubric to remind yourself how to write and assess your journal entries or comment on other students' forum posts and assess your comments. For this lesson's journal entry, which I describe in more detail below, you'll be choosing one of the animals from Journal Entry #1 and describing your interaction with that animal from their perspective. Then, you'll be reflecting on how describing your interaction with that animal from their perspective affected your understanding of your interactions with animals. Once you've written your entry, you'll share it with me so I can give you feedback on it. Next, you'll post it in the course forum so other students can read and comment on it. You'll also add it to a collaborative map of multispecies imagination so people outside the course can learn from it. Once you've posted it, you'll comment on other students' posts.
Checklist:
Apply
For the Apply activity, you'll be choosing one of the animals you listed in your previous journal entry, researching their species, empathizing with them as an individual, and writing about your interaction from their perspective. Once you've chosen an animal, do a Google search for their species and find enough scientific information about their natural history that you feel comfortable interpreting their fundamental needs. Add that information to your journal entry. Then, spend at least five minutes observing them. Add notes from the observation to your entry. After observing them, take a photograph that clearly represents them. Add the photograph to your entry. When you feel ready, describe your interaction with them from their perspective in your entry.
Checklist:
Checklist:
- In your journal, begin Journal Entry #2 by choosing one animal from Journal Entry #1.
- Research that animal's natural history and add any important information about it to your entry, making sure to cite the source properly.
- Observe the animal and take notes on your observation in your entry.
- Take a photograph of the animal and add it to your entry.
- Write a description of your interaction with that animal from their perspective.
Reflect
For the Reflect activity, you'll be responding to prompts about the Apply activity. Now that you've described your interaction with the animal from their perspective, it's time to check your understanding of multispecies imagination and reflect on how describing your interaction with that animal from their perspective affected your understanding of your interactions with animals. If it didn't affect your understanding, that's okay. I'd like to know if the activity doesn't accomplish its aim so I can improve it. If it did affect your understanding, I'd like to know how.
Checklist:
Checklist:
- Complete Journal Entry #2 by defining multispecies imagination in your own words, explaining why multispecies imagination is an important concept for animal studies, and explaining how describing your interaction with another animal from that animal's perspective affected your understanding of your interactions with animals.
- Email me when you've completed Journal Entry #2 so I can give you feedback on it.
Share
For the Share activity, you'll be reading my feedback on your journal entry and revising your entry, then posting it to the course forum's #multispeciesimaginati channel. Reflection is an important part of the learning process, but so is sharing your reflections with others. As you write about multispecies imagination and your interactions with other animals, you're creating new knowledge. If you share that knowledge with others, you'll be contributing to their learning and the field of animal studies.
You'll also be posting your revised journal entry to the Multispecies Imagination Google Map, a collaborative map of multispecies imagination. Collaboration is an important part of learning; however, because of the way this course is designed, there aren't many opportunities for collaboration. To be sure, posting your revised journal entries in the course forum and commenting on other students' posts is a form of collaboration; nonetheless, you'll also be participating in another form of collaboration: the Multispecies Imagination Google Map. By posting your revised journal entry on the map, you'll be helping to co-create a project that highlights the many non-human animals with whom we interact and shares those interactions with other people.
To post your journal entry on the map, click on the "Add marker" icon under the search bar. Then, find the location of your interaction on the map (If you're uncomfortable sharing the exact location, you can find a nearby or similar location). Next, click on the location. In the pop up window, name the marker after the animal you interacted with and paste your revised journal entry (or an excerpt from it) in the text box. Then, click on the "Add image or video" icon on the bottom right, upload your photograph of the animal, and click "Select." Finally, click "Save."
Checklist:
You'll also be posting your revised journal entry to the Multispecies Imagination Google Map, a collaborative map of multispecies imagination. Collaboration is an important part of learning; however, because of the way this course is designed, there aren't many opportunities for collaboration. To be sure, posting your revised journal entries in the course forum and commenting on other students' posts is a form of collaboration; nonetheless, you'll also be participating in another form of collaboration: the Multispecies Imagination Google Map. By posting your revised journal entry on the map, you'll be helping to co-create a project that highlights the many non-human animals with whom we interact and shares those interactions with other people.
To post your journal entry on the map, click on the "Add marker" icon under the search bar. Then, find the location of your interaction on the map (If you're uncomfortable sharing the exact location, you can find a nearby or similar location). Next, click on the location. In the pop up window, name the marker after the animal you interacted with and paste your revised journal entry (or an excerpt from it) in the text box. Then, click on the "Add image or video" icon on the bottom right, upload your photograph of the animal, and click "Select." Finally, click "Save."
Checklist:
- Read my feedback on your Journal Entry #2 and revise your entry.
- Post your revised entry in the course forum's #multispeciesimaginati channel and on the Multispecies Imagination Google Map.
Discuss
For the Discuss activity, you'll be reading and commenting on other students' forum posts. Just as sharing your reflections with others is an important part of the learning process, so too is comment on other students' reflections. As you agree with, ask questions about, or even challenge other students' thoughts on multispecies imagination and their interactions with other animals, you're also creating new knowledge. By discussing the forum posts, you'll be contributing to others' students' learning and the field of animal studies even further.
Checklist:
Checklist:
- Read at least one other student's forum post.
- Comment on the student's forum post.
Works Cited
Bailey, E. T. (n. d.). Excerpt: The sound of a wild snail eating. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/books/titles/137944085/the-sound-of-a-wild-snail-eating#excerpt
Leopold, A. (n. d.). Thinking like a mountain. Retrievied from http://www.eco-action.org/dt/thinking.html
Leopold, A. (n. d.). Thinking like a mountain. Retrievied from http://www.eco-action.org/dt/thinking.html