Class Description:

Join Vanessa Zoltan for a special virtual course dedicated to honoring our closest furry friends: The Sacred Life of Pets. Using the text Shaggy Muses, written by clinical psychologist and English professor Maureen Adams, Vanessa will guide students as they explore the joy and grief of loving and living with their pets.

Each week, the class will be in conversation with one chapter of the book Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edith Wharton, and Emily Brontë. Through lecture, small group discussion, sacred practices, journal prompts, and individual assignments, students can expect to answer questions like: How do we prepare ourselves for difficult moments we know are ahead with our pets? How do we manage our pets responsibly and intentionally, stewarding their lives well? How can we best integrate our pets with the complicated nature of our human connections, be it a new baby, a roommate, or a less enthusiastic partner? Who do we want to be during our pets’ moments of suffering and at the end of their lives? How do we enjoy the limited time we have with our pet companions as well as grieve and memorialize them after they’re gone? 

This class is for you if you have ever:

• Owned and loved a pet

• Loved and lost a pet

• Considered having a pet in your life

Course Outline

• Week 1: Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Pets and Identity (Flush)

• Week 2: Emily Brontë - Pets and Suffering (Keeper)

• Week 3: Emily Dickinson - Pets and Companionship (Carlo)

• Week 4: Edith Wharton - Pets and Finances (Foxy, Linky, & the Dogs in Between)

• Week 5: Virginia Woolf - Pets and Community (Gurth, Grizzle, & Pinka)

Pre-class Assignment:

Before the first class on July 1st, please acquire a copy of Shaggy Musesby Maureen Adams, and read both the Preface and Chapter One. All other syllabus information will be shared during the first class.

This class will be recorded for asynchronous viewing.
Questions? Email our team at programs@notsorryproductions.com.