Studying at York
Animals - HIS00137H
- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
- See module specification for other years: 2024-25
Module summary
Humans have always enjoyed a close relationship with other animals. They have farmed them, eaten them, ridden them into war, exhibited them, experimented on them, pictured them, pampered them, killed them and worshipped them. Animal products - flesh, fur, fins and feathers - have been consumed by humans from the earliest periods of history, while animal labour has powered human agriculture and industry. Animals have also served as test subjects for scientists, models for artists, diversions for kings and queens and companions for children. This module explores these multiple-human-animal relationships in different historical periods and geographical settings to chart the human-animal bond across time. From the sacrifice of llamas in Pre-Columbian Peru to the exhibition of pandas in twentieth-century zoos, from wild okapis in the Congo to pet monkeys in a Victorian parlour, we examine changing attitudes to animals in societies across the globe.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2023-24 |
Module aims
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce students to the practice of comparative history;
- To enable students to acquire skills and understanding of that practice by studying a particular topic or theme; and
- To enable students to reflect on the possibilities and difficulties involved in comparative history
Module learning outcomes
Students who complete this module successfully will:
- Grasp the key approaches and challenges involved in comparative history;
- Understand a range of aspects of the topic or theme which they have studied;
- Be able to use and evaluate comparative approaches to that topic or theme; and
- Have learned to discuss and write about comparative history
Module content
Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1, then a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in each of weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of the semester. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW). Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
- Consumption
- Labour
- Hunting
- Exhibition
- Companionship
- Knowledge
- Biodiversity
- Animal Rights
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
For formative assessment work, students will produce an essay plan relating to the themes and issues of the module.
For summative assessment students will complete an Open Exam in the assessment period.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) | 100 |
Module feedback
Following their formative assessment task, students will receive written feedback, which may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss their feedback 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 25 working days of the submission. For semester 1 assessments, the tutor will be available during student hours of the following semester for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
Indicative reading
For semester 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:
- Hilda Kean and Philip Howell, The Routledge Companion to Human-Animal History (London: Routledge, 2018).
- Erica Fudge, Animal (London: Reaktion Books, 2002).
- Brian Fagan, The Intimate Bond: How Animals Shaped Human History (London: Bloomsbury 2015).