animal rights

November 6, 2005 9:52 PM

So... my oldest sister is reaching the point she has to declare her major in college...

She asked me what I thought she should major in. She envisiones herself working in the non-profit sector specficly in regards to animal rights. The best answer I could come up with was something along the lines of policy studies / law. Is there something better i am not thinking of that I may recommend?

posted by edgeways to education (21 comments total)

Biology or zoology, if she wants specific expertise related to the field. (This could be helpful even if she wants to focus on policy rather than research.)
posted by mbrubeck at 10:00 PM on November 6, 2005

Well...assuming that means she has an eye towards law school, I wouldn't recommend any pre-law type curricula as an undergraduate. It doesn't really help in law school, and it wouldn't leave her as broad, especially if she (heaven forbid) didn't get into law school or changed her mind.

What I would recommend is something more along the lines of ecology, biology, etc. Something that would let her get a good feel for the balance between human needs and animal rights, as well as the practical ways in which animals may be utilized and kept humanely. That way she can construct sound policies that are likely to be accepted by those in fields that must (or at least have traditionally) used animals in one way or another.

Much like taking a lot of anatomy and the like isn't especially helpful for pre-med students, as they learn all that the first year anyway, law school will teach her all the law she needs to know.

As for 'policy studies,' frankly that sounds hopelessly vague at the undergraduate level.
posted by jedicus at 10:00 PM on November 6, 2005

What about public relations? I realize that's not a major...there's also environmental legislation...maybe just business?
posted by slimslowslider at 10:01 PM on November 6, 2005

I have friends that are interested in the non-profit/humanitarian sector and their majors run the famut from Philosophy to Pan-Arabic Studies.

Perhaps Social Work? Or is independent study (forming your own degree) an option?
posted by divabat at 10:21 PM on November 6, 2005

Agricultural studies of some kind perhaps only as extra on top of something else. In trying to improve the conditions on animals on farms, it wouldn't probably hurt to know what makes farms more productive and profitable.
posted by lazy-ville at 10:46 PM on November 6, 2005

Biology. She will gain an understanding of what things can only be achieved with animal experimentation, a knowledge of how much is done and what influences the choices of researchers in deciding whether animal studies are the way to go for a particular project. A grounding in biology will enable her to enter meaningful dialogue with scientists about animal rights without embarrassing herself.
posted by nowonmai at 11:00 PM on November 6, 2005

A grounding in biology will enable her to enter meaningful dialogue with scientists about animal rights without embarrassing herself.

For a topic that you'd like to know enough about to be able to speak to an expert without embarrassing yourself, a course or two outside your major is probably the way to go. Your major should be something that you can ultimately be passionate about, not just something that it would be useful to have some background knowledge about.

I recommend not making this decision by thinking broadly about what area you're interested in ("I'm interested in public policy," "I'm interested in animals"). I would first make a very rough list of majors that would be theoretically possible. You could even do this just by eliminating all the majors that are implausible (e.g. languages that you don't know). Then, look through the lists of available courses in each major and read some of the course descriptions. Try to visualize actually having to sit through those courses and do the work. Does any major have courses that jump out at you or appeal to you more than the others? If so, you should think seriously about majoring in that, regardless of whether you think it's the ideal thing to have on your resume for the purpose of getting a job in your chosen field.

Caveat: Assuming you want to go to law school to get a job with an animal rights organization, that organization will want to see some sort of evidence of a commitment to animal rights. So you should find some way to pursue that—but I would imagine that that will be something extracurricular, something that will requirement more creativity and initiative than just picking the right major. And as far as getting into law school, jedicus is right that your major just doesn't matter.
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:21 PM on November 6, 2005

I have a friend with similar goals. She's majoring in "Wildlife", which I previously did not know could be a major, but it probably isn't available at a lot of places. It seems to be primarily related to wildlife biology. It's in the forest resources school here.

Your sister might want to look especially at the majors offered in agriculture and forestry type schools if she has those in her university and is interested in the science of animals.

If she's not too science-minded, something like public admin (or policy studies, which is probably similar) would be more of her interests, with -- as said above -- some zoology/wildlife/ag type classes as electives. Even something like political science or business might help as far as managing and operating a non-profit. And a liberal arts background can translate into anything, especially law school, if that is in fact a possibility.
posted by SuperNova at 11:42 PM on November 6, 2005

Really depends on her bent.

Yes, biology would be extremely useful as a first degree here, but if she hates science, then probably communications/journalism, psychology (with a strong grounding in ethology) or philosphy, or some combination of those, would be a better route.
posted by dreamsign at 11:43 PM on November 6, 2005

I second dreamsign's answer, although Philosophy can be tricky around some employers (even though I think Philosophy is valid).

A good grounding in logic, writing, analysis and research will serve her well in communication, planning, policy, program planning, journalism and the like. Throw in a few business electives to help demystify business goals -- she may find herself working for a progressive for profit business or in policy for a progressive firm. A stats course can also help with future policy research. In other words, liberal arts are fine, but maximize the potential with some electives.

Biology, resource management, conservation, agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, marine science...all good options.

A major/minor, double major or two extended minors may be helpful.

And be sure to remind her that her volunteer, paid and internship work will really round out her options.
posted by acoutu at 12:51 AM on November 7, 2005

development studies?

it doesn't matter much, i don't think.
posted by ori at 1:07 AM on November 7, 2005

If she is thinking of philosophy she could concentrate on ethics. This would not only give her the benefits of philosophical training (mentioned by acoutu) but it would also give her a way to think about and resolve the kinds of problems she is likely to run into.

I would probably go with something like this:
Major-Philosophy (culminating in a senior/honors thesis in Ethics)
Minor-Public Relations
Course Work (as needed for competency)-zoology, law, business, english*.

As a bonus this kind of education will prepare her for any/most graduate and law programs she would be interested in.

*A caveat on the english courses: I'm thinking of the social theory stuff. This might give here a handle on how to think about social issues at a theoretical level. This can be a very good thing, but in some schools the social theory stuff is so far out it's practically meaningless. So, tell her to be careful about which courses she takes.
posted by oddman at 5:51 AM on November 7, 2005

ObFullDisclosure: I grew up around a lot of cranky old men.

This migration of "Animal Rights" towards the fuzzy rich-kid PETA/Earth Activist/Legislation has done more harm than good for the animals of this country.

Time was that people interested in these things went into concrete areas like Veterinary Medicine or Forestry/Water/DNR. The vets and DNR agents that I've known have been amazing people, with a long track record of true-blue service towards Real Animals.

I would highly recommend that your sister check these out.

/coot
posted by unixrat at 6:30 AM on November 7, 2005

if she's interesting in saving them as a component of migration, environmental damage, and evolving technology, human consumption, etc, she should definitely take a look at contemporary anthropology.
posted by yonation at 7:24 AM on November 7, 2005

I work for a non-profit policy group that "works for rights," though we're more focused on the conservation, human rights, right-to-water, etc side of things. Most of our wonks have either policy degrees or backgrounds in biology, ecology or social science. I'd suggest that she take a look at the kinds of organizations she might want to work for in the future, and see if their web sites list the qualifications of their staff. Seeing their backgrounds might help to give her some direction. She could also call up some of these orgs and ask them what kind of background they'd expect from an employee doing X work.
posted by hamster at 7:25 AM on November 7, 2005

As a rule, avoid "environmental studies" programmes. IME, these are often highly politicized and agenda-driven degrees which deeply harm their graduates. Also, these courses are so light on content that graduates are neither good enough technically nor strong enough on the policy side to be effective. If she wants to go the policy route, generalized degrees like economics, poli sci, communications are all better choices. Finally, she should be thinking about post-grad work, either in law or as a Ph. D. Either are pretty much required to become a leader in the field.

Any policy-based course of study would benefit strongly from taking as many ecology, wildlife biology, meteorology, geography and/or environmental chemistry courses as she can stand (and if she can't stand them, she's thinking of the wrong line of work).

Finally, and this one is key, should should have a very strong grounding in statistics. She won't be able to understand the issues if she doesn't know her stats. If she hates stats, she's also making the wrong career choice.
posted by bonehead at 7:41 AM on November 7, 2005

Some schools have programs dedicated towards non-profits, thought not always exclusively. One of my good friends is a social work major, and while a lot of her schoolwork now consists of interning at half-way houses, her bookwork has also consisted of learning about various non-profits and the business side of them & how to maintain fiscal stability when money is not always flowing from the briches. There might be some useful classes along the same lines to take as electives, especially if she can create an inter-disciplinary major (I know honors kids could at my university).
posted by jmd82 at 8:11 AM on November 7, 2005

Law schools are very impressed by those with a hard science or math background. It plays very easily into the whole "I'm a logical thinker who's not afraid of a challenge" sell. It's also very useful as a future lawyer and can help her get into certain lines of business or firms that she'd otherwise be unable to achieve. It also allows her to go into something completely different later if she decides law school isn't her bag (and believe me, that's very possible). Also, she can always get an advanced degree in nonprofit or policy work - getting a hard science degree as her background will give her lots of credibility later that she won't get with a policy-oriented degree. Think about it: how can you know about the policy issues surrounding a field if you don't know the field itself? She should also think of a veterinary degree if she cares about animals, not least of which because this is a really unique thing to have studies, and will present an interesting package to many grad schools.
posted by lorrer at 8:47 AM on November 7, 2005

How about a business major? They're useful skills in their own right and most any Cause is long on motivated people but short on operational skills. Someone who can keep the revolution supplied with room, board and clove cigarettes is always in demand.
posted by phearlez at 9:02 AM on November 7, 2005

What about combining biology, anthropology or some other sort of animal science with Non-Profit Management? Many schools have at least a NPM minor; she'd be able to gain both the business skills she'd need and also hopefully have a firm grasp or at least an introduction to things like grant writing, recruiting and working with volunteers and program evaluation, which you probably wouldn't get from a business degree.
posted by ThatSomething at 10:23 AM on November 7, 2005

If she's interested in animal welfare or Greenpeace style activism then biology, environmental studies, agricultural studies etc. are probably good. Although there is little science involved in those jobs so policy might be better.

If she's into animal rights (meaning PETA type stuff) there is no major for that, unless she wants to be a lawyer or something. I've never met anyone with a background in science who was into animal rights in the PETA sense of the word.
posted by fshgrl at 12:07 AM on November 8, 2005