Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ANTM106: Representation of Animals Through Religion

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The module forms broadly three parts and will focus upon: animist or shamanist approaches, and the historical and continued use of animals as ancestral or spiritual guides; the construction of and conduct towards non-human animals in contemporary religious discourse and practice; cosmology and animal participation. It will investigate the anthropomorphism of animals in religious thought and ceremonial activity, and the animals in the construction of religious ethical discourse, around either gift or sacrifice, or compassionate ideologies associated with animal welfare.

Topics may include:

Introduction
Deification and Worship of Non-Human Animals (Ancestral Animals and Animals as Spiritual Guides)
Animals in Hindu and Buddhist Religious
Hindu Temple Animals
Animals in Religious Art
Gifts to the Gods and Animal Sacrifice
Abrahamic religions, ethics, and animal welfare
Buddhism, Compassion, and Non-Violence Towards Animals
Bereavement and Pet Funerals
Anthrocosmology, Deep Ecology, and New Age Spirituality

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
20	130

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

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	10	10 x 1 hour podcast audio lectures with accompanying PowerPoint presentations
Scheduled Learning and 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).

http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Leading discussion for one of the tutorial topics	Length of tutorial	All	Peer-assessed and oral feedback during tutorial

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Academic research paper	100	4,000 words	All	Written Feedback
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Academic Research Paper	Research Paper (4,000 words)	All	To be submitted before the start of the next academic year/academic session.

Re-assessment notes

Students must have completed formative assessments before being allowed to submit summative reassessment.