In English professor Bianca Falbo’s classroom, students often see some special guests: dogs Maria and Arlo.
“Initially for students, it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s dogs in the class,’” Falbo said. “But then after a while, they just sort of acclimate to it.”
Falbo teaches ENG 202, a writing seminar that studies animals, and for many semesters, she taught a first-year seminar called “The Dog Course.”
For Falbo, teaching an animal-related course means bringing her dogs into the classroom.
Maria, 8, is a known face in Pardee Hall, while Arlo, 13, only sometimes makes an appearance. Both canines are mixed breeds.
Falbo’s approach to teaching about dogs began in the early days of her professorship. In 2015, she began co-teaching a dog-related course investigating the evolution of the species with now-retired English professor Patricia Donahue.
“I said to her, ‘Wow, that’s such a fun course, I’d love to teach it,’ and she said, ‘Come and teach it,’” Falbo said. She eventually converted the course into an FYS after Donahue retired.
It was through this work that Falbo got familiarized with the field of animal studies.
“I enjoyed it so much in that course that I then started to incorporate animals into my other courses,” she said.
Now, her dogs don’t just improve the course experience for students – they are part of the course material.
“The dogs love it. They kind of just alternate between getting pets from people,” Falbo said of her pets in the classroom. “But it’s also pedagogical. It’s not just for fun. We do talk about communication with dogs and how dogs speak through their body language.”
Falbo often teaches with books that explore the relationship between humans and dogs. Falbo specifically cited “Inside of a Dog,” a book that explains the “science of how dogs like to perceive the world.” Other texts include “Dog Boy,” “Watchers” and “Dog Songs,” the latter being a collection of dog-related poems.
“The course starts out asking, ‘What is a dog?’ and then it ends up asking, ‘What is our moral obligation to dogs and other animals?'” Falbo said.
“She gave them really creative prompts to write with,” Josh Chait ‘25 said of Falbo and her students. Chait was previously a writing associate for “The Dog Course” and has read many papers citing Maria and Arlo.
“They walked her dog and wrote about it, or they got to write about dog shows and interview professors about their pets and their relationships to their dogs,” he continued. “It was a very creative and unique first-year seminar.”
Falbo has also inspired others to bring their four-legged friends to Pardee Hall.
“She likes to joke that it’s a requirement when you get hired at Lafayette to bring your dog onto campus,” said Emma Hetrick, the director of the College Writing Program.
Hetrick owns two dogs: Choo and Ollie. Choo, almost 8, is another well-known face across the English department and College Writing Program. Ollie is just over one year old.
“She helped me get all set up with my gates to keep two in the office, and has actually helped me with some training for Ollie,” Hetrick said of Falbo. “Hopefully, once he’s getting a little more settled and comfortable, he’ll be able to come in too.”
Hetrick currently teaches FYS 110 “Hocus Pocus,” where Choo is frequently a special guest.
“She loves to just go around and say hello to everybody and just hang out in the classroom,” Hetrick said of Choo. “She wants to explore. Sometimes I have to close the door.”
Maria and Arlo also have another next-door canine neighbor. Next to Falbo’s office is a room shared by English lecturer Kathleen Parrish and Camp, an Australian shepherd. According to Parrish, Camp knows to go to Falbo for special treats.
“He knows that there’s toys in her office and that there’s treats and he’ll always come and visit her,” Parrish said of Camp and Falbo. “And likewise, when she was bringing her dogs into the office, they would come into my office to say hello.”
“It really just brightens your day,” she added.
While Falbo’s popular dog course isn’t running this fall, she has other exciting courses in store.
“I’m doing a new FYS this year with Professor Reynolds in the biology department that’s called ‘Minding Animals,’ which thinks about animal consciousness,” Falbo said. “And at some point, I would really like to teach a 300-level course in this department about animals.”
Maria and Arlo will, of course, also be around for those courses. The four-legged friends in Pardee Hall may inspire more professors to do the same.
“It feels more than coincidental that so many English-affiliated folks have dogs that they’ll bring in,” Hetrick said.
