Our interactions with wildlife have shaped the course of human society and influence our wellbeing. In early human societies, wild animals served as food and shamanistic totems, and the domestication of wildlife led to major agricultural progress for hunter-gatherer societies. Skipping ahead to Darwin’s era, observations of variation in wildlife led to the theory of evolution via natural selection, one of the most important and controversial scientific discoveries of all time. Ultimately, the study of critters widened the rift between science and religion. In modern times, wildlife provides important ecosystem services to humans, like pollination, and they also provide educational opportunities for us to discover more about our moral and ecological standing. In this course, we will cover these fundamental human-wildlife relationships, and will also explore “unusual” influences animals have had on us as exotic pets, as inspiration for children’s tales and horror film, as threats through man eating and zoonotic disease transmission, and as psychological cultivators of healing and empathy. We will explore these weird ties with wildlife through popular literature and film, philosophical and spiritual reflection, creative group projects, and outdoor exploration of our campus environment!