16924

WiSe 23/24: Humans and Animals: Introduction to a complex Relationship

Susanne Scharnowski

Kommentar

Topic: Anthropologists have established that humans have hunted, killed, and eaten other mammals for more than 2 million years. Some of the oldest existing cave paintings show animals; animals play important roles in the myths and legends of all ancient cultures. For thousands of years, humans have reared mammals and birds for food and utilised the physical strength of horses and oxen for work. Animals are bred and kept as pets, put on display in zoos and trained as circus attractions. Other animals are regarded as pests or predators which must be controlled or extinguished. Older cultures believed in an animal-human continuum; modern Western civilisations, however, were convinced that humans should control nature; so, for them, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, with its revelation that humans have evolved from apes, came as a shock. In short: Human history is inconceivable without (other) animals. And although animals have played a role in science (especially in biomedical research) for a long time, cultural animal studies, are a relatively new phenomenon. This course will serve as an introduction to this field. Program: We will look at some of the most relevant ways in which humans relate to animals: Hunting; raising animals; eating animals; controlling predators; fighting “pests”; extinction; observation; protection; being animal. We will study academic as well as fictional and non-fictional texts from the 19th and 20th centuries; additionally, we will discuss and analyse Werner Herzog’s well-known documentary film Grizzly Man (which students can watch as stream on various platforms). Is this the right course for you? The course is open to students from all fields, from the sciences as well as from the humanities. However, you should be able to read English texts at a fairly high level, be prepared to study a wide variety of theoretical as well as literary texts and be interested in the topic as well as in textual and discourse analysis. Workload and Assessment: To obtain 5 ECTS credits, you will have to study and engage with the course materials (an average of 15-20 pages of academic/ literary texts per week), pass a mid-term test before Christmas and submit a written assignment or sit a written exam at the end of the semester. If you want to participate, though, you must attend the first, at the latest the second session (18 or, at the latest, 25 October); joining the course later won’t be possible. In general, students must attend at least 85% of the classes (14 out of 16). Schließen

16 Termine

Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung

Mi, 10:00 - 12:00 16 Termine

Mi, 18.10.2023 10:00 - 12:00

Dozenten:
Dr. Susanne Scharnowski