Unusual courses is an occasional series from The Conversation US that highlights unconventional teaching approaches.
Title of course: “Cat Science”
What sparked the idea for the course? I am an evolutionary biologist who has spent my career studying the evolution of small lizards in the Caribbean. I’m also a lifelong cat lover, but it never occurred to me to do something scientific with house cats.
They’re hard to study – ever try following your cat around to see what it’s up to? And unlike lions, tigers and other well-studied wild cats, I had the impression that no interesting research was being done on the local representative of the cat clan, Felis catus.
Twelve years ago, I learned that I was completely wrong. Thanks to John Bradshaw’s book Cat Sense and the BBC’s The Secret Life of the Cat, I discovered that ailurologists were using the same cutting-edge methods—GPS tracking, genome sequencing, isotopic analysis—to study domestic cats that I use. to study lizards and other researchers use with all kinds of other creatures.
Thus my cat science class was born. I would entice the students with their love of cats and then, when they weren’t looking, teach them how scientists study biodiversity—ecology, evolution, genetics, and behavior.
What does the course explore? Basically, the course is about the past, present and future of cats: where they came from, why they do what they do, what the future might hold. And, critically, how we know what we know—that is, how scientists address these kinds of questions.
The course ends with students writing an original paper or making a mini-documentary. These projects have covered a wide range of topics in biology and beyond, such as the impact of cats on bird populations, sexism and the crazy cat lady trope, the health effects of living with cats, the role of hybridization as a creator or limiting force in evolution, the top-down role of larger predators such as coyotes and dingoes in controlling cat numbers, and the prospects for new genetic technologies to create allergen-free cats or to curb stray cat populations free of charge.
Unexpectedly, the students weren’t the only ones who ended up writing about cats: The class and its topics inspired me to write my own book, The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savannah to Your Couch.
Why is this course important now? Society needs more biodiversity scientists to understand our rapidly changing world. Cats present scientific questions of broad interest and they can serve as an introduction to the world of biological research.
What is a critical lesson from the course? Important research into the natural world does not require travel to the far corners of the world. Research on common animals in local environments – even domestic animals – can make important advances in basic and applied knowledge.
What materials does the course contain? In addition to reading research papers, we took eye-opening and fun field trips. We went out at dawn to join a homeless cat advocate feeding unknown cats in a rundown part of town.
We also learned about cats in ancient times from an Egyptologist, traveled to a cat show to marvel at the variety of cat breeds, observed feral cats at the Saint Louis Zoo, and examined cats in art at university museums.
What will the course prepare students to do? Feline research is a means for students to see the applicability of scientific ideas to animals they know and care deeply about. The course not only requires students to synthesize knowledge from many different fields, but also pushes them to think about contemporary real-world debates, such as what to do about cats in the wild and the ethics of breeding.
Jonathan Losos, William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor, Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
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