U A Professors Look At How Humans And Animals Change Each Other

TUCSON – In her book “Zoologies: On Animals and the Human Spirit,” Regents’ Professor of English at the University of Arizona Alison Hawthorne Deming wrote, “Animality and humanity are one, expressions of the planet’s brilliant inventiveness.” Therefore, it might not be a huge surprise the Deming will be one professor speaking at the university’s four-part Downtown Lecture Series “Animalities: What Animals Teach Us About Being Human.” The lectures will be held at the Fox Tucson Theater at 17 W. Congress St. at 6:30 p.m. the first four Thursdays in October. Seating at the free, no-ticket lectures will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Of course, the history of animals is also a history of humans, but it’s more than how we have co-evolved. By turning the lens of social analysis from the human to the non-human, these lectures demonstrate how various animals have shaped our social lives,” said U of A College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Dean John Paul Jones in a statement.

Topics include dogs’ minds, bison as humans’ partners, herring hunts and climate change, and how horses heal and teach.

Oct. 3 – “The Thinking Dog”

For more than 15,000 years, dogs and humans have forged meaningful relationships. Arizona Canine Cognition Center Anthropologist Evan MacLean’s lecture aims to answer questions surrounding topics such as the similarities between man’s and canine’s minds, whether dogs can really love us and how humans bond with dogs. MacLean delves into new information about the dog’s mind and what these dog studies can teach us about being human.

Oct. 10 – “The Personhood of Bison”

Human understanding usually places humans in the pivotal role in bison history, whether one is talking of consuming, hunting, trading or saving them from near extinction. However, in this second lecture in the series, Anthropologist Maria Nieves Zedeno looks at how Native American Plains hunters instead regarded bison as being in the central position when considering the intricacies of the world’s spiritual, social and natural connections. Zedeno melds scientific archaeology with traditional knowledge in providing insight into how these North American indigenous hunters treated bison as "partners" and "persons" who influenced all areas of humanity.

Oct. 17 – “Hunting for Herring”

Known as “the silver darlings of the seas” and “the potato of the Middle Ages,” herring have one of the largest fish populations in the sea. Professor Deming spent her childhood summers and beyond in the Canadian Maritimes on Grand Manan Island where a thriving, 200-year-old fishery sits. In her lecture, the English professor now explores weir-based fishery traditions versus climate change challenges, and how people and fish can meaningfully coexist.

Oct. 24 – “Lii’ (Navajo Horse) as Healer and Educator”

The horse is central to the Navajo (Dine) creation story, entertainment, work, land management, and clanship and family systems. U of A postdoctoral fellow in American Indian Studies Kelsey John will talk about her ideas on how horses are “knowers who can promote healing withing their communities, even possibly by challenging the power structures inherent in colonization.” John’s lecture is based on her experiences training and riding Navajo horses, and expounds upon the ways horses teach humans to interact with one another, animals and the land.

For more information on the lectures, or for parking and directions, access the University of Arizona website at https://sbs.arizona.edu/dls.