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Animals and Society

Module description

From the food we eat and the clothes we wear to the medicines which sustain us, our lives are inextricably bound up in complex relationships with other animals. This module explores the many and varied interactions which humans have with nonhuman animals.  You will consider the place of non-human animals in social anthropology which prioritises the human animal, traditionally seeing fundamental and irreconcilable differences between 'cultured' humans and objectified animals.  You will put these interactions in socio-historical context and consider cross-cultural comparisons and theoretical analysis. Key issues relate to how we might understand often conflicting attitudes such as what it means to be human and our responsibilities. These philosophical discussions may culminate in a re-consideration of the place of nonhuman animals in social anthropology as described above. The ways in which attitudes towards animals as objects and/or subjects are changing in other academic disciplines will also form part of the cross-cultural analysis. The module is open to non-specialist students.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to:

1. introduce students to 'anthrozoology' through engagement with a wide range of ethnographic case studies;

2. provide students with the tools and information needed to analyse, in a theoretically rigorous manner, the many and varied ways in which humans think about, and interact with, other animals.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. debate on a large range of classic issues related to human interactions with other animals;
• 2. discuss some of the classic anthropological implications of the different ways in which humans think about and interact with other animals, with a level of detail;
• 3. apply classic theoretical models to facilitate an advanced analysis of human-animal interactions;
• 4. situate classic debates in the study of specific human-animal interactions within socio-historical context, with a level of detail;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. recognise the contested nature of knowledge and demonstrate an ability to consider classic debates in human-animal relationships in a reflexive and critically analytical manner;
• 6. understand and articulate the ethical dimensions of human-animal interactions;

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. plan, undertake and present written work of a scholarly standard that demonstrates a very good understanding of classic anthropological aims, methods and theoretical considerations and engages with the (published) work of others;
• 8. engage constructively in debates in the study of human-animal interactions

Syllabus plan

The module will explore a wide range of ethnographic examples which detail how humans (including anthropologists) think about and interact with other animals. Key theoretical issues will also be explored.

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• The relationship between humans, nonhuman animals and anthropology
• Continuity and difference between humans and other primates
• Domestication
• Animal classification and symbolism
• Animals as food
• Conservation
• Pet keeping

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Animal Studies Group. 2006. Killing animals. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Arluke, A. B. & Sanders, C. 1996. Regarding Animals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press

Cassidy, R. & Mullin, M. (eds.) 2007. Where the Wild Things Are Now. Oxford: Berg.

Kirksey, E. and Helmreich, S. (eds) 2010. The emergence of multispecies ethnography – special issue. Cultural Anthropology 25.

Knight, J. (ed.) 2005. Animals in Person: Cultural Perspectives on Human-Animal Intimacies. Oxford: Berg.

Mullin, M. 1999 'Mirrors and windows: Sociocultural Studies of Human-Animal Relationships' Annual Review of Anthropology. Volume 28: 201 - 224

Noske, B. 1993. 'The Animal Question in Anthropology' in Society and Animals. Volume 1 (2).

Key words search

Animals, pets, human-animal interactions