Course syllabus

Kritiska djurstudier: Djur i samhälle, kultur och medier
Critical Animal Studies - Animals in Society, Culture and the Media

EXTA80, 7,5 credits, G1 (First Cycle)

Valid for: 2021/22
Faculty: Faculty of Engineering, LTH
Decided by: PLED LIV
Date of Decision: 2021-04-20

General Information

Depth of study relative to the degree requirements: First cycle, has only upper-secondary level entry requirements.
Elective Compulsory for: KLMT3
Language of instruction: The course will be given in English

Aim

The course provides a multidisciplinary introduction to the research field of critical animal studies (CAS) and explores the shifting roles and positions of animals in contemporary Western society. The aim of the course is to provide analytical tools to critically review norms and structures organising human-animal relations and the ethical, cultural and social consequences of these.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

 

• account for the shifting roles and positions of animals in contemporary Western society and the ethical, cultural and social consequences of these
• account for key theoretical perspectives and concepts in the field of human–animal studies
• account for the importance of including a critical animal studies perspective in analyses of current social issues.

 

Competences and skills
For a passing grade the student must

 

• analyse and critically review norms and structures organising human-animal relations in contemporary Western society
• analyse the boundaries drawn between humans and animals and critically review the consequences of these.

 

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

 

• critically assess the ethical, cultural and social consequences of human-animal relations
• formulate research issues orally and in writing and identify the need of further knowledge development in the field of critical animal studies.

 

Contents

Teaching consists of lectures and seminar and group exercises. The seminar and group exercises are compulsory.

Examination details

Grading scale: UG - (U,G) - (Fail, Pass)
Assessment: Assessment is based on active attendance at the compulsory components and a written exam at the end of the course. Absence from compulsory components is compensated for by written assignments. A student who fails the ordinary examination will be given the opportunity to complete the course through supplementary assignments.

The examiner, in consultation with Disability Support Services, may deviate from the regular form of examination in order to provide a permanently disabled student with a form of examination equivalent to that of a student without a disability.

Admission

The number of participants is limited to: 15
Selection: Completed university credits within the programme. Priority is given to students enrolled on programmes that include the course in their curriculum.
The course overlaps following course/s: SASH68

Reading list

• Aaltola, Elisa (2013). Skepticism, empathy, and animal suffering. Journal of bioethical inquiry, 10(4), pp. 457-467.
• Adams, Carol J. (1997). “"Mad Cow" disease and the animal industrial complex”. Organization & Environment; Mar 1997; 10, 1; pp. 1-26.
• Adams, Carol J. (2009). Post-Meateating. In T. Tyler and M. Rossini (Eds.), Animal Encounters Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp. 47-72.
• Arluke, Arnold & Sanders, Clinton R. (1996). Regarding Animals Philadelphia: Temple University Press. pp. 1-57 + 167-191.
• Boyer, Kurtis (2014). The Limits of Species Advocacy. In Wissenburg. M.L.J. & Schlosberg. D. (eds.) Animal Politics and Political Animals. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 11 pp.
• Donaldson, Sue & Kymlicka, Will (2015). Farmed Animal Sanctuaries: The Heart of the Movement? Politics And Animals, 1(1), pp. 50-74.
• Dunayer, Joan (1995). “Sexist Words, Speciesist Roots.” In Adams, Carol J. and Donovan, J.: Animals & Women. Feminist Theoretical Explorations pp. 11-23. Durham and London: Duke University Press.
• Emel, Jody & Wolch, Jennifer (1998). Witnessing the Animal Moment. In J. Wolch & J. Emel (Eds.), Animal Geographies: Place, Politics, and Identity in the Nature-Culture Borderlands. London & New York: Verso pp. 1-24.
• Garmendia da Trindade, Gabriel & Woodhall, Andrew (2016). Intervention or Protest: Acting for Nonhuman Animals. Vernon Press. 40 pp.
• Harper, Amie Breeze (2010). Introduction: The Birth of the Sistah Vegan Project. In A.B. Harper (Ed.), Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society New York: Lantern Books. pp. xiii-xix.
• Hribal, Jason (2007). Animals, Agency, and Class: Writing the History of Animals from Below. Human Ecology Review 14(1), pp. 101-112.
• Jenni, Kathie (2005). The Power of the Visual. Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal III(1), pp. 1-21.
• Joy, Melanie (2011). Why we love dogs, eat pigs, and wear cows: An introduction to carnism. San Fransisco: Conari Press. 216 pp.
• Ko, Aph (2017). "Why animal liberation requires an epistemological revolution". In Ko, A., Ko, S.: Aphro-Ism. Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters. pp. 88-94. New York: Lantern.
• Ko, Syl (2017). "We can avoid the debate about comparing human and animal oppressiones, if we simply make the right connections". In Ko, A., Ko, S.: Aphro-Ism. Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters. pp 82-87. New York: Lantern.
• LeGuin, Ursula K. (1988). ’She Unnames them’, In Ursula K. LeGuin Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences. New York, N.Y.: New American Library. pp. 1-3.
• Malamud, Randy (2012) An Introduction to Animals and Visual Culture. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1-93 + 115-129.
• McCrow-Young, Ally, Linné, Tobias and Potts, Annie (2015). “Framing Possums: War, Sport and Patriotism in Depictions of Brushtail Possums in New Zealand News Media.” Animal Studies Journal, 4 (2) pp. 29-54.
• Merskin, Debra (2015). ’Media Theories and the Crossroads of Critical Animal and Media Studies’. In N. Almiron, M. Cole and C. P. Freeman (Eds.), Critical Animal and Media Studies: Communication for Nonhuman Animal Advocacy London: Routledge. pp. 11-25.
• Nibert, David (2003). Humans and Other Animals: Sociology’s Moral and Intellectual Challenge. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 23(3), pp. 5-25.
• Nocella II, Anthony J., Sorenson, John, Socha, Kim & Matsuoka, Atsuko (2014). The Emergence of Critical Animal Studies: The Rise of Intersectional Animal Liberation. In A.J. Nocella II, J. Sorenson, K. Socha & A. Matsuoka (Eds.), Defining Critical Animal Studies: An Intersectional Social Justice Approach for Liberation. New York: Peter Lang. pp. xix-xxxvi.
• Patterson, Charles (2002). We Were Like That Too: Holocaust-Connected Animal Advocates. In C. Patterson, Eternal Treblinka: Our treatment of animals and the Holocaust, New York: Lantern Books. pp. 139-167.
• Pierson, David P. (2005). “Hey, They´re Just Like Us!” Representations of the Animal World in the Discovery Channel’s Nature Programming. The Journal of Popular Culture 38(4), pp. 698-712.
• Salih, Sara (2014). Vegans on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In Taylor, N. and Twine, R. (eds.), The Rise of Critical Animal Studies. From the Margins to the Centre, London & New York: Routledge. pp. 52-68.
• Salt, Henry S. (1914). Logic of the Larder. In H.S. Salt, The Humanities of Diet. Manchester: Sociey. 3 pp.
• Sanbonmatsu, John (2011). Introduction. In J. Sanbonmatsu (Ed.), Critical Theory and Animal Liberation. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 1-12 + 20-26.
• Spiegel, Marjorie (1996). The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery. New York: Mirror Books. 128 pp.
• Stanescu, Vasile & Twine, Richard (2012). ‘Post-Animal Studies: The Future(s) of Critical Animal Studies’, Journal of Critical Animal Studies 10(2), pp. 4-19.
• Taylor, Sunara. (2014). ‘Animal Crips’, Journal for Critical Animal Studies. 12(2), pp. 95-117.
• Wadiwel, Dinesh Joseph (2009). “The War Against Animals. Domination, Law and Sovereignty”. Griffith Law Review, vol. 18, 2: pp. 283-297.
• Wrenn, Corey Lee (2017). “Toward a Vegan Feminist Theory of the State”. In Nibert, D. (ed.) Animal Oppression and Capitalism, pp. 201-226. California and Colorado: Praeger.

Contact and other information

Course coordinator: Tobias Linné, tobias.linne@kom.lu.se
Course homepage: https://www.kom.lu.se/en/course/SASH68/