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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2011/2012
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : History

Undergraduate Course: Human-Animal Relations in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe (HIST10340)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityAvailable to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) Credits20
Home subject areaHistory Other subject areaEconomic and Social History
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionThe blossoming sub-discipline of the history of animals is attracting exciting research and this course will allow students to analyse fresh materials and participate in debates at the cutting edge of this field.
This course will examine the emergent area of human-animal relations in late medieval and early modern Europe. The seminars will be structured around themes and will explore theories of animal history, rights, and human-animal boundaries, as well as methodological approaches to the study of the human-animal past. Practices of human-animal relations will be analysed, such as the exploitation of animals as workers, raw materials, and meat; hunting; racing; breeding; animals as companions; and exotic display animals as markers of status or as gifts. The course will also study representation of animals in late medieval and early modern European culture.
A range of primary and secondary historical sources will be employed, as well as contributions from other fields including archaeology, literary studies, art history, and the biological sciences.
The course will identify some of the possibilities and problems of looking into the history of human-animal relations. It will encourage students to consider how human-animal relations have shaped human history in the periods studied, and to see human history from new vantage points. It will ask what changing ideas about animals tell us about wider historical shifts and what study of human-animal relations in the past can reveal about our relationship with the natural world today.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesA pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent. Before enrolling students on this course, Directors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Secretary to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503783).
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?No
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  20
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CentralSeminar1-11 14:00 - 15:50
First Class Week 1, Tuesday, 14:00 - 15:50, Zone: Central. Room G.13, School of HC&A, Doorway 4, Teviot Place
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours:Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 1, Part-year visiting students only (VV1) WebCT enabled:  No Quota:  6
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CentralSeminar1-11 14:00 - 15:50
First Class Week 1, Tuesday, 14:00 - 15:50, Zone: Central. Room G.13, School of HC&A, Doorway 4, Teviot Place
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course students will be required to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:
- the capacity to develop and maintain critical argument in written work and seminar contributions;
- the ability to engage critically with primary sources, including works of art, material culture and literature, and with secondary material, recognising the challenges faced by historians when investigating the past, and particularly a relationship in which one party is not able to speak for itself;
- recognition of the main historical issues surrounding the history of human-animal relations in the late medieval and early modern periods;
- an understanding of theoretical debates in the field of human-animal relations;
- a sense of historical perspective in relation to the categories, and boundaries, of human and animal;
- identification and evaluation of past and present attitudes to human-animal relations;
- a critical awareness of the diversity in human-animal relations in the medieval and early modern periods, as well as any shifts in attitude toward the relationship of humans and animals across time.
Assessment Information
The proposed course will be assessed by the following: two-hour Degree Examination (60% of final mark); 3000 word essay (30% of final mark); oral presentation (10% of final mark).
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus 1. Introduction: Why Study the History of Human-animal Relations?
2. Bestiaries and Classification
3. Animals as Labour Force, Commodities and Calories
4. Hunting and Wild Animals
5. Representing Animals: Symbols, Visual Depictions and Literature
6. Living Heraldry and Animal Embassy
7. Exhibition Animals: Courts and Menageries
8. Companions, Pets, and Familiars
9. Science and Ethics
10. Anthropomorphism and Human-animal Boundaries
11. Conclusion and revision
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Sarah Cockram
Tel:
Email: S.Cockram@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Rozanne Luty
Tel: (0131 6)50 3783
Email: v1rluty@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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