A first look into the world of art history, visual analysis, and visual & material culture through how animals are represented and what those representations tell us about wider histories and cultures. Topics we will look at and discuss include dogs in Mary Oliver’s poetry, how dogs and cats appear in portrait paintings, beasts and the medieval Bestiary, the myths of the unicorn including horses and their respective relations to both masculinity and femininity, and the collecting of animals (menageries, zoos, cabinets of curiosity, taxidermy) and its relation to imperialism, masculinity, expansion, and science.