- Department: History
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Stephanie Howard-Smith
- Credit value: 30 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
Animals have played a crucial role in human history. Valued as beasts of burden, consumed as food, hunted for sport, exhibited for pleasure and studied by scientists, animals have shaped the development of European society. At the same time, they have themselves elicited contradictory human emotions, from curiosity and pity to affection and fear. This module explores the evolution of human-animal relations in the years 1700-1900 and uses the history of animals to explore wider cultural and social developments during this period. We look at animals in a variety of settings, from the circus ring to the laboratory, the savannah to the dinner table, considering their contrasting roles as commodities, specimens, companions and victims of abuse. Students will get the chance to study the history of animals through a range of primary sources, including novels, art, zoo guides and RSPCA reports.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2021-22 to Summer Term 2021-22 |
The aims of this module are:
Students who complete this module successfully will:
Teaching Programme:
This 30-credit module is taught through a weekly two-hour seminar run from weeks 2-10 in the spring term and a four week period of project work undertaken in weeks 1-4 of the summer term. Students will complete their group project work within that period and tutors should arrange to be available for consultation with students twice during that time. There will be no formal seminar teaching during this period.
Seminars will cover the following areas:
Group project work will focus on the idea of animal biography. Students will complete a detailed study of a well-known individual animal to elucidate the wider themes and issues of animal history. Sources will be provided on a range of animals - from Jumbo the elephant to Greyfriars Bobby. Alternatively, students may choose their own subject in consultation with the module leader.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Groupwork Project |
N/A | 33 |
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) 24-Hour Open Exam |
8 hours | 67 |
None
Formative assessment will be a group presentation between weeks 5 and 7 of the spring term.
For summative assessment students take a 24-hour open exam in the summer term assessment period, usually released at 11:00 on day 1 and submitted at 11:00 on day 2. For those taking two Explorations modules the 24-hour open exams are held on consecutive days, with both papers released at 11:00 on day 1 and both due for submission on 11:00 of day 3.
Students also submit a piece of written work for their group project of no more than 3,000 words in week 5 of the summer term.
The exam carries 67% of assessment and the project element 33% for this module.
Students who need to be reassessed in the project component of this module (for example due to Exceptional Circumstance) will be required to submit in the summer reassessment period a shorter individual project (2,000 words) which should include a short reflection (500 words max) on group work, considering how this project could be expanded if a team of three to four people were working on it. Students should consider how they would divide up the research tasks, and reflect briefly on problems which might arise and how they would manage them. Module tutors will advise on the content and design of this project.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Groupwork Project |
N/A | 33 |
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) 24-Hour Open Exam |
8 hours | 67 |
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their procedural work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline unless submitted in week 5 of the summer term, in which case these are available within 25 working days. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:
Philip Howell and Hilda Kean, Handbook for Animal-Human History (London: Routledge, 2019)
Kean, Hilda. Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain since 1800. London: Reaktion Books, 1998.
Ritvo, Harriet. The Animal Estate: The English and Other Creatures in the Victorian Age. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987.