Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado Boulder professor emeritus of biology, will present “Animal Emotions and Why They Matter” at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 10 at the Longmont Public Library, 409 4th Avenue. The program is free and open to the public.
Bekoff will share research in cognitive ethology, the study of animal minds, which indicates animals are emotional, compassionate, empathic, and moral beings.
“What we observe when animals interact with one another tells us a lot about what's happening inside their heads and hearts,” he said. “I will focus on the details of social play behavior, especially in dogs, coyotes, and wolves, and the manyways in which animals play fairly and honestly.”
According to Bekoff, humans have a lot to learn from animals and their abilities to cooperate. As we develop our understanding of animal emotions and behaviors, we can expand our compassion for animals, he said.
“We’re very confused about our relationships with other animal beings and we ignore nature by ignoring who—not what—they are,” Bekoff said. “We owe it to all individual animals to make every attempt to come to a greater understanding and appreciation of who they are—emotional, empathic, and often moral beings, not insensitive objects.”
This Nov. 10 program is part of a series called CU at the Library, which is jointly sponsored by the Longmont Public Library, Friends of the Longmont Public Library, and the CU-Boulder Office for University Outreach. It is one of many 2011-2012 programs offered through CU-Boulder partnerships with local libraries. For more information, visit http://conted.colorado.edu/library/
-CU-Boulder Office for University Outreach-