Social Work Education & Human-Animal Interactions

Human-Animal Interactions is an area of curricular development in an increasing number of social work programs. In addition to veterinary social work initiatives, human-animal interactions may be integrated into social work education via specialized courses, as well as inclusion of animals into family systems within traditional coursework.

The following institutions are particularly focused on integrating Human-Animal Interactions into social work education: 

• Michigan State University
• Syracuse University
  • Introduction to Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies
  • Social Work and the Human-Animal Bond
• University of Denver
• University of Tennessee

 

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Human-Animal Interactions Research Initiatives 

• Center for Human-Animal Interaction, Virginia Commonwealth University
  
• Center for the Human-Animal Bond, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine 
• Center for Interaction of Animals and Society, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine 
• Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative Foundation, Washington D.C. 
• Human-Animal Interaction Research Initiative, University of Arizona  
• Human-Animal Interaction Studies, Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine  
• Institute for Human-Animal Interaction, Tufts University 
• Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver
• Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna