Alexandra Horowitz (Barnard College), “Encounters with Animals” (Law, Environment & Animals Program)

How is the world experienced by nonhuman animals? In this talk, moderated by LEAP Legal Director Daina Bray, Author and Senior Lecturer and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College Alexandra Horowitz will discuss her work in progress: a book of biographies of individual animals, tentatively entitled “Encounters with Animals.” In the book, she profiles members of nonhuman species, just as we profile the lives, occupations, and preoccupations of members of the human species. Each chapter features a distinct animal (or distinct animals), telling the tale of an aspect of their life using anecdotes, first-person observation, archival research, reports from sources, and species knowledge. During the talk, she will discuss a few of the subjects of the book and the challenges of the project, revealing the intricacies of animal experiences and the complexities of research in this area. 

 

Alexandra Horowitz is a senior lecturer and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College. Author of the New York Times bestseller, “Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know” and four other books, she has written about topics as varied as attention, imitation, fairness, guilt, captivity, cloning, play, and footnotes; from animal representation in children’s books to things people say to their dogs; from anthropomorphisms of animals to dogs in movies. She is currently working on her sixth book.

 

This event is part of the Law, Environment & Animals Program at Yale Law School’s Fall 2025 Speaker Series. Lunch will be provided. RSVP required.