CoursesCritical Writing: Minds in the Wild
WRIT 0021/302

Critical Writing: Minds in the Wild

How smart are you? How smart is your dog? We often measure intelligence by human standards – testing parrots on their ability to name shapes or timing dogs while they solve puzzles. Through this course, we’ll flip the script and put ourselves in animals’ shoes. We’ll mainly read Ed Yong’s recent book examining what various animals actually take in through their senses. Students may focus their research on the sensing, cognition, or communication of a specific species, or on the adoption of new tools, like AI, for improving our understanding of animals. Writing assignments will focus on articulating the recent findings, as well as gaps, within animal intelligence research.

Instructor(s)
  • Nora Bradford
Semester

Fall 2026

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This is an SNF Paideia designated writing seminar, designed to examine and encourage dialogue across differences. Students and faculty participating in the Paideia writing seminar cluster will have an opportunity to meet once a month for dinner, dialogue, and a keynote speaker or facilitator, as well as engage in other cross seminar community building activities. SNF Paideia designated courses are noted on student transcripts. This seminar fulfills the writing requirement, follows the same curriculum, and has the same workload, assessment process, and standards as all other critical writing seminars at Penn. Seminar topics vary in academic discipline but each relates back to the SNF Paideia program’s core values of informed civil discourse and deliberation. Only first-year students are eligible to enroll in SNF Paideia designated writing seminars.

Students with a semester level of Junior, Sophomore or Senior may not enroll.

Students in the LPS BAAS and Online Certs, LPS Prof Masters or LPS UG Programs divisions may not enroll.

MW 1:45pm-3:14pm

Instructor: Norah Bradford

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