W&L's Kirk on WMRA's “Virginia Insight”
Athena Kirk, Mellon Junior Faculty Fellow in the Classics Department at Washington and Lee University, appeared on NPR affiliate WMRA’s “Virginia Insight” show on Monday, Feb. 25, to discuss humans, philosophy and animals.
When it comes to animals, humans can be a bit schizophrenic. Americans lavish billions on the beasts we consider pets, but few of us give much thought to the life of the creature providing us with our next cheeseburger. But it was not always that way. The show takes a look at how attitudes toward animals have changed both in recent decades and over thousands of years.
Kirk was joined by Cynthia Hurst, acting director of the Charlottesville, Albemarle SPCA and by call-in guest Dr. Lauren Keating, a member and past president of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association.
Kirk received the 2012 Distinguished New Course Award from the Humane Society of the United States for her course “The Ancient Animal World,” a comparative study of animals in ancient literature and philosophy and our relationships with animals in contemporary fiction and theory.
“Virginia Insight,” hosted by Tom Graham, is a live call-in show, and can be found at 89.9 in Lexington, 90.7 in Harrisonburg and 103.5 in Charlottesville. Listen to the program below:
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