Module ANTM101 for 2017/8
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
ANTM101: Animals, Health and Healing
This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.
Module Aims
The aims of this module are:
1. to enable students to explore a wide range of anthrozoological interactions which relate to the health and well being of humans and/or nonhuman animals;
2. to engage in analytical cross-cultural comparison of the various ways in which humans think about and utilise nonhumans in biomedical and therapeutic contexts;
3. to engage in analytical cross-cultural comparison of the ways in which humans understand and treat the health and wellbeing of the nonhumans in their care;
4. to consider the process of self-medication (zoopharmacognosy) in human and nonhuman animals; and
5. to provide students with an opportunity to conduct their own empirical research and analysis.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of key themes and issues relating to the utilisation of nonhuman animals in biomedical and therapeutic contexts; 2. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of key themes and issues relating to the preventative, palliative and curative care of nonhuman animals in a range of cultural contexts; 3. demonstrate a critical awareness of the implications (benefits and limitations) of utilising nonhuman animals in biomedical and therapeutic contexts; 4. demonstrate a critical awareness of the implications of zoonotic disease in relation to the anthrozoological understandings of human-nonhuman relations, as well as the ethical implications of human-nonhuman coexistences; 5. demonstrate a critical awareness of the processes and implications of zoopharmacognosy in a range of nonhuman species; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 6. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the potential and actual role of anthrozoology in helping to promote the welfare of human and nonhuman subjects; 7. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of, and ability to critically assess a selection of key theoretical debates from anthropology and cognate disciplines surrounding human interactions with nonhumans in medical and therapeutic contexts; 8. apply a range of relevant theoretical models effectively in the critical analysis of ethnographic case studies and/or empirical data; |
Personal and Key Skills | 9. identify a coherent research question and conduct independent research to answer that question; 10. effectively communicate complex ideas in a clear, accessible and academic manner; 11. synthesise and critically analyse material from a wide range of sources; 12. present theoretically engaged and critically analytical research in accordance with the requirements of a peer-reviewed academic journal. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
The module will cover a range of theoretical debates and case studies concerned with the following topics:
- the use of animals in biomedical research (which could include animal rights/ethics, nonhuman models, history of vivisection, environmental enrichment programmes, genomics, xenotransplants, cloning)
- the use of animals in therapeutic contexts (which could include Animal Assisted Therapy, assistance animals such as Guide dogs, power relationships etc.)
- ethnoveterinary medicine (which could also include alternative/non-allopathic therapies such as homeopathy, as well as spiritual communications with nonhumans such as shamanism and animal psychics)
- zoonotic disease (which could include focus on transmission, responses, attitudes towards carriers etc.)
- zoopharmacognosy (which could also include ethnobotany)
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
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20 | 130 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
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Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 10 | 10 x 1 hour podcast audio lectures with accompanying powerpoint presentations |
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 10 | 10 x 1 hour discussion/seminar participations on the VLE discussion forums (Including formative assessments) |
Guided Independent Study | 30 | Preparation for formative assessments |
Guided Independent Study | 100 | Research and writing of summative assessments |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/