How to Build a Culture of Empathy: Sub Conference: Animals and Nature


Marc Bekoff: Dialogs on How to Build a Culture of Empathy
		Marc Bekoff is Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder and is a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society. He is author of numerous books including: The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy. How we can go about building a culture of empathy? I think about that a lot, in fact a book that I just sent off that will be out next year called, "Ignoring Nature No More: The Case for Compassionate Conservation". I see a lots of ways that we can build a culture of empathy... Sub Conference: Science Sub Conference: Animals


Stanley Coren: How to Build a Culture of Empathy with Dogs
		Stanley Coren is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of many best-selling books on dogs including, 'How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind', 'How To Speak Dog' and 'The Modern Dog'.
`Stanley says empathy is the glue that connects us and that "there is a consensus that the mind of a dog is very similar in capacity and behaviors to the mind of a human 2 to 3-year-old."` "Recent research demonstrates that dogs have empathy and recognize when humans are emotionally distressed. Their response is an attempt to comfort the unhappy person as best they can." One way to foster empathy in children is for children to have a dog, which helps them learn how to connect and relate to others. The dog will not judge them but offers empathic connection. Sub Conference: Animals & Nature


Kevin Behan: How to Build a Culture of Empathy with Dogs
		Kevin Behan is a dog trainer and has written articles about empathy in dogs. He is author of: Your Dog Is Your Mirror: The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves. "canine cognition labs around the world are conducting experiments to elucidate how dogs have become so attuned to human beings that they seem to have developed a capacity for empathy. But is this kind of empathy a form of emotional contagion or a form of higher cognition? Or is it something else entirely?... " Sub Conference: Animals & Nature

Lee Charles Kelley: How to Build a Culture of Empathy with Dogs

Lee Charles Kelley is a dog trainer and has written articles about empathy in dogs. He writes a blog in Psychology Today called 'My Puppy, My Self: How dogs make us human'. Lee and I talked about the nature of empathy in dogs from Lee's perspective of working with dogs as a trainer and having been an actor. We also reviewed the study, 'Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs to distress in humans', by Debbie Custance, and the related articles by Stanley Coren and Kevin Behan.
Sub Conference: Animals & Nature