Animals & Society: Understanding and Researching the Human-Animal Bond

Fall 2025 Guided Experience

Looking for an exciting way to complete an Honors College Experience outside of a course? Interested in building your research skills while getting to interact with therapy dogs?

If you answered yes to both these questions, you are an ideal candidate for the inaugural Fall 2025 Guided Experience. A Guided Experience is an out of class Experience for the Honors College facilitated by an expert in the field related to the Experience topic. Like all other out of class Experiences, your “final exam” is successful participation in the Experiential Learning Fair (ELF). If you successfully complete this Guided Experience and the ELF, you will complete the Service Experience. While the Guided Experience is at no cost to the student, the requirements and commitments are equivalent to a course.

In this exciting guided experience, a team of no more than 10 students will work directly with Dr. Meredith Stensland, PhD, LMSW, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (UT Health San Antonio), to increase their knowledge of the human-animal bond and gain valuable research skills, such as survey administration, both qualitative and quantitative data collection, data analysis, and dissemination. Students will spend approximately 78 hours on hands-on activities, such as:

Completing human-subjects ethics training.

Teaming up with therapy dog handlers to shadow field visits.

Administering surveys and conducting a qualitative interview with therapy dog visit recipients (e.g., hospital patients, nursing home residents, etc.).

Analyzing data.

Participating in a journal club.

Attending training sessions for the Fall cohort of PAWS for Service dog handlers.

Writing a research report.

Creating a research poster and group presentation.

Does that sound like fun? Then you should apply! Participation is open to Honors College students in good standing who meet the following criteria:

Are not taking more than 15 credit hours in the Fall 2025 semester;

If taking 15 SCH, are not taking 0 SCH Honors 101;

Can commit to 78 hours outside of class to this project. This is critical. You will be working with community partners through an agreement with the Honors College; you will represent UTSA. The Guided Experience is as serious as a course.

Have a demonstrated interest in human-animal interaction and human-subjects research.

Are effective and efficient team players;

Have excellent time management skills;

Are able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions;

Available to meet weekly throughout the semester, plus 8 weekly dog training sessions.

Contact

Dr. Meredith Stensland, PhD, LMSW

UT Health San Antonio

stensland@uthscsa.edu

Apply

Fill out the Animals & Society: Understanding and Researching the Human-Animal Bond application

Go to application

More Information

General questions about this Guided Experience?

Contact your Honors Academic Counselor

Email Dr. Meredith Stensland, PhD, LMSW

Animals & Society: Understanding and Researching the Human-Animal Bond