CC以提供实际操作而闻名, 为学生提供体验式学习, but Associate Professor 和 Chair of the Anthropology Department Dr. :鱼 ’97 decided to take this one step further by incorporating her dog Moka into her classes. 鱼带来了 斗牛 on exam 和 other stressful days, 和 incorporates her into the class curriculum.
在带Moka来上课之前, 鱼 checks in with her students to make sure everyone is comfortable with having a dog in the classroom. While all of 鱼’s students have been happy to have Moka visit, 很明显，当她在那里的时候，一些学生真的茁壮成长.
“这些学生花更多的时间在Moka身边, 或者她可能躺在他们旁边,菲什说。. 研究表明, 我的观察也证明了这一点, the idea that one of the biggest benefits to having her in class is that it brings people back ‘into the moment.“通常当人们感到焦虑时, part of what is going on is a specific type of overthinking 和 repeatedly mulling over all the bad things that might happen in the future, such as questioning ‘what if I don’t know the answer to a question’ or ‘what if I mess up my presentation.’ A dog requires you to be in the moment with them 和 read their responses 和 body language that are happening now. Having Moka around can help interrupt some of the anxiety thought patterns. 当然, 她并没有完全解决焦虑的问题, but I think that she can be a small part of a multifaceted strategy to support students.”
A student in one of 鱼’s recent blocks shared with the class that she was having peak anxiety, 就在那一刻, 莫卡走过去，躺在学生的脚边, which 鱼 found meaningful 和 emphasized how much good Moka does for her students.
“我与克里斯塔和莫卡的关系真的很特别,25岁的Zara Laber说, 谁跟鱼上了三节课. “Krista is not only an exceptional professor but also someone I deeply admire for her dedication to ethics 和 inclusivity. Moka是我在CC遇到的第一只教员犬, 作为一个爱狗人士, 我立刻爱上了她甜美而深情的天性.”
拉伯接过费什的 古幻想和人类进化的其他叙述 去年的课，还有她 灵长类动物行为，生态学和保护 和 E人类生命史的进化 今年的课程. Moka visited the class in all three of the blocks, which Laber always looked forward to.
“Seeing Moka around has been a wonderful de-stressor for both myself 和 my peers. She brings a sense of joy 和 relaxation to our often busy 和 dem和ing academic environment,拉伯说。, an Anthropology major who also enjoys seeing Moka in 鱼’s office hours. “此外, Moka对我来说绝对是一种安慰, 尤其是当我想念家里的狗的时候. Her presence has truly brightened my days 和 has been invaluable for my mental health.”
成长的过程中, 鱼 volunteered at a riding therapy program helping disabled teenagers, 她的家人训练导盲犬, so service animals have always played an important role in her life. 鱼’s sister is a teacher in Seattle who focuses on supporting students with emotional 和 行为al disorders in the classroom, 和 her dog was trained as a therapy dog 和 supported her work in the classroom with students. 几年前她的狗死了, 菲什的妹妹联系上了德克萨斯州的救援人员, 并最终收养了Moka的生母, 金星. 在分享了金星的照片之后, 当时谁怀孕了, 鱼, 她的丈夫, 还有她的父母, 住在当地的人, 决定收养她的一只小狗. While they did not initially plan to train Moka as a therapy dog, professional trainers saw how much Moka enjoyed her obedience 和 agility work, 还有她有多爱别人, 招募她参加治疗犬项目.
“I also became excited by the idea of having a therapy dog who could support CC students, especially because so many students experience anxiety 和 other mental health concerns,菲什说。, 谁在CC主修人类学. They began training Moka 和 she eventually became a certified therapy dog in 2023.
While 鱼 finds that all her students benefit from interacting with Moka, 她特别想把Moka也包括进去 灵长类动物叙事和多物种人种志 class, which is a First-Year Writing Seminar that examines the different ways anthropologists might study other animals.
在这个课堂上, 鱼 teaches students how to formally collect animal 行为al data using common 行为al sampling methods, 包括调查, 面试, 和民族志. 她注意到灵长类人种学, 哪个是生物人类学的一部分, 在多物种人种学中使用的方法有很多重叠, 哪个是文化人类学的一部分. 鱼 highlights the connection between anthropology’s scientific side 和 the humanities field. 让莫卡来上课, 鱼 can emphasize the reality of the human-animal relationship 和 connection.
“I think that most people think about primate research as the only applicable other-than-human animal type of research that anthropologists do, 但我们对狗的了解越多, 它们在人类学研究中就越有效,鱼说. “The archaeological evidence suggests that dogs were the first organism to participate in the domestication process. 狗真的是参与者 选择 us. 他们可能早在35岁就选择和我们交往了,000 years ago– long before any other plant or animal species became domesticated. 狗生物学, 行为, 和 life history were selected for with us as a key component of the environment.”
最终, 鱼 believes that this close relationship is one reason dogs like Moka are good therapy animals: humans 和 dogs have both evolved to be sensitive to each other’s emotional states.
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