Give to IHAC
The Institute for Human-Animal Connection (IHAC) provides global educational opportunities, research and clinical training for individuals and communities interested in the interrelationships between people, animals, health and the environment. As a program within the University of Denver, IHAC is required to raise 100% of our funding. Your tax-deductible donations are always appreciated to help support our programming and to help make our events and classes accessible to all. Thank you!
Make a donation in honor of your two- or four-legged loved ones!
Just let us know if the gift is in honor or memory of a human or non-human companion in the 'about you' section of the giving form.
Ways to Give
Enhance our Student Impact
Help us build hands-on programming and refine curricula to train our students to the highest level of competency and ensure their ability to make important and sustainable positive impacts within their communities.
Donate
Invest in our Research
Help make innovative, science-based discoveries that focus on the most effective methods of improving human, animal and environmental health and wellbeing by enhancing the human-animal bond.
Donate
Boost our Scholarships
Help make high-quality education accessible by contributing to IHAC's scholarship fund. Scholarships create opportunities for IHAC to implement antiracist strategies to increase the diversity of our student population as we develop the next generation of human-animal-environment interactions professionals.
1000+ More than 1000 people participate in IHAC programs and events each year.
30+ Graduate students participate in institute research projects every year.
140 MSW students trained in human-animal-environment interactions annually.
You can also support IHAC by attending one of our events!
Wednesday June 17, 2020
Traditional Stories of the Relationship between the Arikara (Sahnish) and the Animal World
The Arikara, or more accurately “Sahnish,” are a northern Great Plains tribe currently living on the Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation in central North Dakota, USA. In this session, Dr. Michael Yellow Bird (Arikara) will share a series of short teaching stories of the relationship between the Arikara people and the animal world. The stories are intended to nurture participant’s understanding of the important connection between humans and animals and how renewing this tradition can help restore this relationship.
- 5-6 p.m. Mountain Time
Wednesday July 1, 2020
Educating Human Children about Animal and Other Alterity: A critical foundation for moving toward a plant-based and more compassionate society
Maneesha Deckha, professor and Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria, argues that any advocacy or policy agenda directed at transitioning to plant-based societies should include education that combats the anthropocentric, gendered and colonial cultural messaging human children typically receive. Deckha will discuss how this cultural messaging can be delivered through a critical iteration of humane education focused on cultivating empathy and disrupting the Othering/dominating messages children receive and internalize about animals, the earth’s “resources” and human Others.
- 5-6 p.m. Mountain Time
Now available as a recording!
Why Access to Pet Resources is a Social Justice Issue
Amanda Arrington, Senior Director of the groundbreaking Pets for Life (PFL) program at the Humane Society of the United States, discusses how pet ownership crosses all geographic, racial, ethnic and socio-economic boundaries, but access to information and services does not. Institutional bias and systemic inequity can have a negative impact on pets and there is a great need to understand and deepen the connection between animal welfare and social, racial, and economic justice. Recorded Wednesday May 6, 2020.
- View anytime! Discounts still apply and upon registration, you will receive a link to view this important event.
Now available as a recording!
Peaceable Kingdom: The Big Fix in northern Uganda
Sarah Schmidt, the founder and president of The Big Fix Uganda’s Comfort Dog Project and Meg Daley Olmert, Director of Research for the Warrior Canine Connection will present the first One Health animal assisted therapy model fighting cruelty and despair in Northern Uganda. The Big Fix Uganda—a non-profit , based in Port Townsend, WA--operates the only veterinarian hospital in Northern Uganda. Recorded Wednesday May 20, 2020.
- View anytime! Discounts still apply and upon registration, you will receive a link to view this important event.
Now available as a recording!
The Missed Opportunities of Shying Away from Public Policy Engagement
Vince Wong serves as Director of Collective Impact for the Michelson Found Animals Foundation talks about how public policy engagement is a long, drawn-out process that we tend to shy away for myriad reasons – time, resources, attention, anxiety, exhaustion, fear, inexperience – just to name a few. But to effect long-term and sustainable change, you need multiple stakeholders – corporate, nonprofit, community, philanthropy, and yes even government – from diverse areas to all come together on collective action that actually makes a difference. Recorded on Wednesday June 3, 2020.
- View anytime! Discounts still apply and upon registration, you will receive a link to view this important event.
Stories about IHAC
Animal-Assisted Therapy in Child Welfare
Rachel Pletcher completed Animals and Human Health in 2018 which has allowed her to develop and implement an animal-assisted therapy program for her child welfare organization. Rachel is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been working with Charles, her therapy dog, for three years.
COVID-19: Considerations for Companion Animals
With so much information out there, some of our wonderful students did a round-up of the latest recommendations (03/18/19) for companion and service animals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our sources include: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Veterinary Medical Association, The Humane Society of the United States, and NEADS World Class Service Dogs.
