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.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. 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 Skills6. 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 Skills9. 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 ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
201300

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities1010 x 1 hour podcast audio lectures with accompanying powerpoint presentations
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities1010 x 1 hour discussion/seminar participations on the VLE discussion forums (Including formative assessments)
Guided Independent Study30Preparation for formative assessments
Guided Independent Study100Research 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/