This event has now finished.
  • Date and time: Monday 20 June 2022, 8pm to 9pm
  • Location: Online only
  • Admission: Free admission, booking required

Event details

What would happen to dogs if humans simply disappeared? Would dogs be able to survive on their own without us? 

Join Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff as they imagine a post-human future for dogs, revealing how dogs would survive - and possibly even thrive - and explaining how this new and revolutionary perspective can guide how we interact with dogs now.

Drawing on biology, ecology and the latest findings on the lives and behaviour of dogs and their wild relatives, Jessica and Marc - two of today’s most innovative thinkers about dogs - explore who dogs might become without direct human intervention into breeding, arranged playdates at the dog park, regular feedings and veterinary care. They show how dogs are quick learners who are highly adaptable and opportunistic, and offer compelling evidence that dogs already do survive on their own - and could do so in a world without us.

Challenging the notion that dogs would be helpless without their human counterparts, Jessica and Marc will make you understand these independent and remarkably intelligent animals on their own terms.

This event will take place live on Zoom Webinar. You’ll receive a link to join a couple of days before the event takes place and a reminder an hour before. During the event, you can ask questions via a Q&A function, but audience cameras and microphones will remain muted throughout.

Book sales

You can buy copies of many of our speakers’ books from Fox Lane Books, a local independent bookseller and Festival partner. In some cases, author signed bookplates are available too.

 

About the speaker

Jessica Pierce is a faculty affiliate at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School, USA. Her books include Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets.

Marc Bekoff is professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. His books include Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do.

Partners

University of York logo