Graduating Vol Anja Shull works to put philosophy and ethics into big-picture action for environments that work best for animal welfare—and human connections.
Anja Shull grew up holding a childhood goal close to her heart: find ways to help animals. She brought this inspiration to her studies, coupling her philosophy major with a minor in animal behavior, and graduates this spring as a Chancellor’s Honors Student with a record of focused service and purposeful engagement.
Shull connected with the animal world growing up in the Appalachian mountain town of Tellico Plains, Tennessee. The motivation to care for creatures great and small runs in her family.
“I looked up to my grandmother, who was always taking in stray cats and dogs, and even rescued goats,” she said. “I spent a lot of time outside with wildlife and realized that even the smallest animals need someone on their side.”
Shull arrived at UT in 2022 with ambitions to channel her passions into a meaningful career plan.
“Finding out exactly how took a lot of trial and error,” she said. “I started out at UT wanting to go into animal law or academic ethics, hence the philosophy major.”
Philosophy Into Practice
Shull embraced leadership opportunities in the Department of Philosophy, taking on a role as the undergraduate representative to the Philosophy Undergraduate Committee and as a peer reviewer for the Pursuit undergraduate research journal, helping to shape the department’s outreach and scholarship across campus.
An animal anatomy class in her sophomore year led Shull to “fall back in love with science,” and she considered a graduate career in veterinary medicine, where her philosophy path would equip her to tackle the numerous ethical topics of the field. Carefully chosen extracurricular activities helped her refine these professional goals as she built interdisciplinary experience and leadership skills.
“A turning point in my college career was founding the UT Animal Welfare Club and competing in the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Animal Welfare Assessment Contest,” said Shull. “Animal welfare science is all about learning what makes animals thrive in captive settings, so not only making sure they are healthy and have their needs met, but their wants too.”
As club president, she and student colleagues learned about animal welfare assessment frameworks and how to use information about an animal’s health, environment, behavior, and mental state to judge their welfare. Club members placed in the AVMA’s international contest twice, with Shull placing second out of 65-plus undergraduates in the 2025 senior division.
“I found that I really enjoy picking apart how an animal’s environment shapes its welfare and determining what is truly important to them,” said Shull. “At the same time, I realized I didn’t enjoy working in a clinical setting, and that pursuing veterinary medicine wasn’t the right path for me.”
More to Explore in the Academic Landscape
Shull sharpened her career focus toward creating enclosures for animals that keep their health and welfare at the center of the design. After graduation, she will continue graduate studies at UT, bringing her background in philosophy, animal behavior, and environmental ethics into the landscape architecture master’s degree program. Shull’s long-term goal is to design landscapes that work better for animals, ecosystems, and the humans who share space with them.
“It feels like a natural fit for both my interests and my skills,” she said. “UT has a strong landscape architecture graduate program that will help me get there, while letting me bring together creative design, scientific understanding, and ethical thinking. I’m excited to continue my education at UT for the next three years!”
Shull credits her “amazing” academic advisor Emily Brandel for encouraging her to try new things and trusting her to be confident about her future. Faculty mentors like Professor of Philosophy Adam Cureton also offered welcome challenges that enabled her to set a high standard for herself.
“What makes Anja stand out is the coherence and seriousness of an intellectual and practical profile that most students only ever piece together in fragments,” said Cureton. “She has built a rigorous honors-level foundation in philosophy and animal behavior while carrying out substantial research projects, always with an eye to how our ethical responsibilities shape the environments we share with animals.”
As she steps forward to her graduate career, Shull continues to carry the torch for undergraduate representation and offers a message for current and prospective students about the intrinsic value of studies in the humanities.
“I really want students to know that what you are passionate about, what you are good at, and what you enjoy doing are three separate things, and the interface of those aspects may not be obvious,” said Shull. “Try new things, self-reflect. There is a path out there for everyone and it might not be what you started college thinking you would do.”
by Randall Brown