Representation of Animals Through Religion
| Module title | Representation of Animals Through Religion |
|---|---|
| Module code | ANTM106 |
| Academic year | 2019/0 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Dr Alexander Badman-King (Convenor) Dr Jessica Groling (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 15 |
|---|
Module description
In this module you will examine a wide range of human and non-human interactions that occur through religious representations, ceremonial practices, and ethical discourses. From the earliest forms of sacred custom, to the rise of “world” religions, through to contemporary discourses of spirituality, human-animal relationships have encountered religion in a diversity of ways. Stimulating and comprehensive in its scope, the module provides you with the opportunity to explore the range of ways that non-human animals are created through religion, from the anthropomorphism, deification, and worship of animal gods, to the ways that they are presented in religious art, animals as sacrificial gifts, the correct ritual prescriptions for the slaughter of animals, and animal welfare as the focus of compassionate religious discourse. The module will also examine the representation of animals in deep ecology and “new age” spirituality. The module will also discuss bereavement and pet funerals and, intriguingly, the religious experience of animals themselves.
There are no pre-requisites, and the module would be particularly suitable for students on other programmes, particularly religious and political studies, psychology, and studies exploring ecology, conservation, and sustainability.
This is a distance learning only module.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module aims are:
- To enable the student to engage with the range of human, animal, and environmental encounters according to the religious, mystical, and supernatural contexts that continue to have significance in the contemporary world.
- To critically evaluate the position of religiously-constructed human-animal encounters in diverse sociocultural schemes globally and how this frames cultural constructions and the ethical treatment of either specific animal species, or non-human animals generally.
- To consider how contemporary representations of animals through religious doctrine and ceremony can inform wider theoretical/philosophical debates such as locally-contextualised constructions of ecology and conservation, approaches to ethics and animal welfare, and of non-human animal entities as participants in the wider religious and political landscapes.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the diversity of human interactions with animals in the context of religious practices (ceremony, worship, deification) and of religious moral discourse (gift or sacrifice, animal welfare);
- 2. identify and evaluate representations of animals in religion through art or religious technology, oral narratives, doctrinal and textual sources, and ceremonial activities;
- 3. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of how the social construction of animals through religion enhances anthropological approaches and methodologies that examine the participation of other-than-human beings in the human social, religious, and political landscape;
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. demonstrate a clear understanding of the historical development of theoretical approaches to the representations of animals within the social sciences;
- 5. demonstrate the ability to critically assess key theoretical debates from anthropology and cognate disciplines surrounding human interactions with animals in the contexts of religious moral discourses;
- 6. demonstrate a critical awareness of significance of historical and contemporary socio-cultural influences of particular representatives of other-than-human beings for social scientific theory;
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. identify a research problem and conduct independent research to test the research problem;
- 8. clearly and concisely convey complicated ideas to academic and non-academic audiences; and
- 9. prepare for writing papers suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed academic journal.
Syllabus plan
The module forms broadly three parts and will focus upon: animist or shamanist approaches, and the historical and continued use of animals as ancestral or spiritual guides; the construction of and conduct towards non-human animals in contemporary religious discourse and practice; cosmology and animal participation. It will investigate the anthropomorphism of animals in religious thought and ceremonial activity, and the animals in the construction of religious ethical discourse, around either gift or sacrifice, or compassionate ideologies associated with animal welfare.
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Introduction
- Deification and Worship of Non-Human Animals (Ancestral Animals and Animals as Spiritual Guides)
- Animals in Hindu and Buddhist Religious
- Hindu Temple Animals
- Animals in Religious Art
- Gifts to the Gods and Animal Sacrifice
- Abrahamic religions, ethics, and animal welfare
- Buddhism, Compassion, and Non-Violence Towards Animals
- Bereavement and Pet Funerals
- Anthrocosmology, Deep Ecology, and New Age Spirituality
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 130 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 10 | 10 x 1 hour podcast audio lectures with accompanying PowerPoint presentations |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 10 | 10 x 1 hour discussion/seminar participations on the VLE discussion forums (Including formative assessments) |
| Guided Independent Study | 30 | Preparation for formative assessments |
| Guided Independent Study | 100 | Research and writing of summative assessments |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leading discussion for one of the tutorial topics | Length of tutorial | All | Peer-assessed and oral feedback during tutorial |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0 | 20 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic research paper | 80 | 4,000 words | All | Written Feedback |
| Tutorial participation | 20 | Weekly, as part of group discussions | 1-9 | Verbal |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic Research Paper | Research Paper (4,000 words) | All | To be submitted before the start of the next academic year/academic session. |
| Tutorial participation | There is no reassessment available in respect of tutorial participation: your mark for your tutorial participation will stand. | 1-9 |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic reading:
Aftandilian, David. 2007. What are the Animals to Us?: Approaches from Science, Religion, Folklore, Literature, and Art. University of Tennessee Press.
Baldick, Julian. 2000. Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia. New York University Press.
Bolton, Maggie. 2005. Quartering Sheep at Carnival in Sud Lipez, Bolivia. In The Qualities of Time: Anthropological Approaches, edited by Wendy James and David Mills. Oxford: Berg.
Broglio, Ralph. 2012. Thinking With Surfaces: Animals and Contemporary Art, in Animals and the Human Imagination: A Companion to Animal Studies edited by Aaron Gross and Anne Valeley. Columbia University Press.
Carmak, Betty J. 2003. Grieving the Death of a Pet. Minneapolis: MN Augsburg Books.
De Silva, Lily. 2003. The Buddhist Attitude towards Nature, in Environment Ethics: Divergence and Convergence (Second Edition), edited by Richard G. Botzler, Susan J. Armstrong.
Fellenz, Marc R. 2007. The Moral Menagerie : Philosophy and Animal Rights. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Folzt, Richard C. 2006. Animals in Islamic Traditions and Muslim Cultures. Oxford: One World.
Kalof, Linda and Resl, Brigitte 2011. A Cultural History of Animals. Oxford: Berg.
Linzey, Andrew. 1999. Animal Gospel: Christian Faith as If Animals Mattered. London: Hodder and Stougton.
Masri, Basheer Ahmad. 1989. Animals in Islam. Petersfield: Athene Trust.
Morris, Brian. 2000 Animals and Ancestors: An Ethnography. Oxford: Berg.
Northcott, Michael S. 2007. Faithful Feasting. In A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming. MaryKnoll, NY: Orbis.
Regan, Tom. 1987. Animal Sacrifices: Religious Perspectives on the Use of Animals in Science. Temple University Press.
Taylor, Bron. 2010, Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Serpell, James. A. 2005. Animals and religion: Towards a unifying theory. In The human-animal relationship: Forever and a Day edited by Francien Heriette de Jonge. Uitgeverij Van Gorcum.
Waldau, Paul. 2001. The Specter of Speciesism: Buddhist and Christian Views of Animals. American Academy of Religion Books.
Waldau, Paul. 2010. Religion and Other Animals. In Teaching the Animal: Human Animal Studies across the Disciplines edited by Margo DeMello. New York: Lantern Books.
Waldau, Paul and Patton, Kimberly C. 2006. A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics. Columbia University Press.
Journal Articles
Chur-Hansen, Anna. 2010. Grief and Bereavement Issues and the Loss of a Companion Animal. Clinical Psychologist. 14(1): 14-21.
Davis, Helen et al. When a pet dies: Religious issues, euthanasia and strategies for coping with bereavement. Anthrozoos. 16(1), 57-74.
Lee, Sherman A.; Surething, Nicole A. 2013. Neuroticism and Religious Coping Uniquely Predict Distress Severity among Bereaved Pet Owners. Anthrozoos. 26 (1): 61-76.
Parson, E.C.M. (Chris) 2004. Sea monsters and mermaids in Scottish folklore: Can these tales give us information on the historic occurrence of marine animals in Scotland? Anthrozoos. 17(1): 73-80.
Praet, Istvan. 2013. The Positional Qualitty of Life and Death: A Theory of Human-Animal Religions in Animism. Anthrozoos. 26(3): 341-355
Rea, Amadeo M. 2008. Wings in the Desert: A Folk Ornithology of the Northern Pimans. Anthrozoos. 21(4): 398-398
Sax, Boria. 2000. The Holocaust and Blood Sacrifice. Anthrozoos. 13(1): 22-33.
Sax. Boria 2009. The Magic of Animals: English Witch Trials in the Perspective of Folklore. Anthrozoos. 22 (4): 317-332.
Schaefer, Donovan O. 2012. Do Animals Have Religion? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion and Embodiment. Anthrozoos. Vol. 25 Supplement: 173-189.
Stibbe, Arran. 2007. Haiku and Beyond: Language, Ecology, and Reconnection with the Natural World. Anthrozoos. 20(2): 101-112
Sz�±cs, Endre et al. (2012). Animal Welfare in Different Human Cultures, Traditions and Religious Faiths. Asian Australasian Journal of Animal Science, 25(11), 1499-1506.
Veldkamp, Elmer. 2009. The Emergence of "Pets as Family" and the Socio-Historical Development of Pet Funerals in Japan. Anthrozoos. 22(4): 333-346.
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | No prerequisite modules are required |
| Module co-requisites | No prerequisite modules are required |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | Yes |
| Origin date | 14/10/2013 |
| Last revision date | 23/04/2019 |