Module ANTM113 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
ANTM113: Humans and Other Primates
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
The module will start by exploring the shared phylogenetic heritage within the primate order. A brief introduction to human and nonhuman primate evolution will be followed by a critical evaluation of the ways in which contemporary nonhuman primates are utilised as models in a bid to better understand human origins. The module will also consider the work of prominent primatologists and situate their research within historical context. An engagement with empirical data concerning the behavioural ecology of nonhuman primates will then allow for a consideration of the various theoretical debates which surround research concerning our closest biological relatives. These could include questions of anthropomorphism, language and communication, culture and tool use and the 'myth' of human exceptionalism. The second part of the module will be concerned with exploring contemporary human interactions with nonhuman primates in a range of settings and focussing on a host of important contemporary issues such as conflict for resources, the bushmeat trade, the use of nonhuman primates in biomedical research, the representation of primates in popular culture and the keeping of other primates in captivity.
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 & 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 | 60 | Weekly preparatory reading for lectures and seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 10 | Preparation for formative assessments |
| Guided Independent Study | 60 | Research and writing of summative assessments |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Basic reading:
Campbell, C.J., Fuentes, A., MacKinnon, K.C., Panger, M. and Bearder, S.K. 2007. Primates in perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cheney, D. and Seyfarth, R.M. 2007. Baboon metaphysics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Corbey, R.H.A. 2005. The Metaphysics of Apes: Negotiating The Animal-Human Boundary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cormier, L.A. 2003. Kinship With Monkeys: The Guaja Foragers of Eastern Amazonia. New York: Columbia University Press.
de Waal, F.B.M. 1982. Chimpanzee politics: power and sex among apes. London: Cape.
de Waal, F.B.M. 1989. Peacemaking among primates. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
de Waal, F.B.M. 2001. The ape and the sushi master: cultural reflections of a primatologist. New York: Basic Books.
Fuentes, A. 2006. Human–nonhuman primate interconnections and their relevance to anthropology. Ecological and Environmental Anthropology 2(2): 1–11.
Fuentes, A. 2010. Naturalcultural encounters in Bali: monkeys, temples, tourists and ethnoprimatology. Cultural Anthropology 25(4): 600–624.
Fuentes, A. & L. Wolfe (eds) 2002. Primates Face to Face: Conservation Implications of Human-Nonhuman Primate Interconnections (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology volume 29. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Haraway, D. 1984. Primatology is politics by other means. PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 2: 489–524.
Haraway, D. J. 1989. Primate visions: gender, race, and nature in the world of modern science. London: Routledge.
Haraway, D. 1991. Simians, cyborgs, and women: the reinvention of nature. New York: Routledge.
Knight, J. 1999. Monkeys of the move: the natural symbolism of people–macaque conflict in Japan. Journal of Asian Studies 58(3): 622–647.
Knight, J. 2005. Feeding Mr Monkey: cross-species food exchange in Japanese monkey parks. In J. Knight (ed.) Animals in person: cultural perspectives on human–animal intimacies, pp. 231–253. Oxford: Berg.
Knight, J. 2006. Monkey Mountain as a megazoo: analyzing the naturalistic claims of ‘wild monkey parks’ in Japan. Society & Animals 14(3): 245–264.
Knight, J. 2011. Herding monkeys to paradise. London: Brill.
Loudon, J.E., Howells, M.E.and Fuentes, A. 2006. The importance of integrative anthropology: a preliminary investigation employing primatological and cultural anthropological data collection methods in assessing human–monkey co-existence in Bali, Indonesia. Ecological and Environmental Anthropology 2(1): 2–13.
Loudon, J.E., Sauther, M.L. Fish, K.D., Hunter-Ishikawa, M and Ibrahim, Y.J. 2006. One reserve, three primates: applying a holistic approach to understand the interconnections among ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), and humans (Homo sapiens) at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar. Ecological and Environmental Anthropology 2(2): 54–74.
MacClancy, J. and Fuentes A. (eds) Centralizing fieldwork: critical perspectives from primatology, biological and social anthropology .Oxford: Berghahn.
Patterson, J.D. and Wallis, J. (eds) 2005. Commensalism and conflict: the human–primate interface. American Society of Primatologists.
Perry, S.E. 2006. What cultural primatology can tell anthropologists about the evolution of culture. Annual Review of Anthropology 35: 171–208.
Riley, E.P. 2006. Ethnoprimatology: toward reconciliation of biological and cultural anthropology. Ecological and Environmental Anthropology 2: 1–10.
Strum, S. 2000. Primate encounters: models of science, gender and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
