Well friends, I have a topic! "Animal consciousness" is my topic in broad terms, but I will mainly discuss it within the context of animal rights, ethics, and animal testing. I'll present scientific evidence and make an argument—not a concrete decision about whether animals do indeed experience emotion (I'm no scientist), but an argument for how animals should be treated, based on today's knowledge of animal cognition.

How did I come across this topic, you may ask? Wikipedia! It is such a wonderful website. The lead paragraph of the "animal consciousness" article alone supplied me with a lot of scientific, historical, and philosophical knowledge. In addition to the main "animal consciousness" page, there are also full articles on emotion in animals, pain in animals, and the "mirror test" (a supposed test for animal self-awareness), among many others.

Yes, I know that Wikipedia isn't a scholarly source, or even a wholly reliable one. But these Wikipedia articles give me loads of introductory information from which to build off, as well as references and links to more reliable sources. From what I can tell so far, I don't think I'll have much trouble providing basic scientific evidence. But presenting an argument? That remains to be seen. I'll keep y'all posted.