Animal Welfare and Society

This module introduces students to the ways that human and nonhuman animal lives intersect. It examines how relationships with nonhuman animals both reflect and shape social life and culture, and how humans think about themselves. It explores the myriad and contradictory positions that nonhuman animals occupy in society and will begin to deconstruct the social origins of these seemingly natural categories by exploring classical and contemporary social theories. Animal industries, policy makers and animal protection organizations point to strong needs for professionals with expertise in animal welfare and this module also introduces students to animal welfare theory, and how theoretical concepts may be used to contemplate issues of veterinary medicine and animal care. The module provides a forum in which the issues can be debated and subjected to scrutiny.

Animals have evolved a remarkable array of behaviours in response to selection pressures of many kinds. This module reviews many of the behaviours found in non-domesticated and domesticated species, such as social, communicative and migratory behaviours, and explores the factors that have led to their existence. Students will become familiar with the ways scientists study animal behaviours, and will learn to develop ethograms.

Next we review a broad range of animal welfare issues, examining the effects of various uses of animals on their welfare status and behaviour. This module will equip students with a broad understanding of a wide range of problematic practises which cause pain, stress and suffering in animals. Regarding companion animals, this includes breed standards that perpetuate hereditary disorders, and issues associated with pet overpopulation and its management. The use of animals for entertainment, e.g. in circuses, zoos and organized animal fighting, will be reviewed, along with animal abuse, neglect and cruelty. Students will also learn about different farming systems (e.g. conventional or free range) for the most commonly farmed species, and the welfare concerns associated with these. For farmed animals especially, transportation, conventional, and religious slaughter will be discussed as they impact welfare considerably. Welfare issues associated with the killing of animals are, however, also important with regard to companion and laboratory animals (i.e. euthanasia), as well as practises like hunting, angling and whaling. Students will also learn about animals used in scientific and educational animal use, and about alternative research and teaching methodologies. Animals less commonly-considered, such as ‘pest’, ‘feral’, alien or introduced species and invertebrates will be discussed. Some important and emerging global issues will also be introduced, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the adverse impacts of the livestock sector in these areas.

This module (combined with Research Methods 2) prepares the student for their dissertation. By developing understanding of qualitative research methods and word-based data analysis skills, the student will be able to effective critique published research on animal welfare and society which will help them understand set readings for all other modules in the BA Animal Welfare and Society. Additionally, the student will be able to plan robust qualitative research having completed this module. Given the human-animal studies critical focus of the degree, this module helps the student to appreciate the value of word-based data and qualitative methods.

This module introduces the student to core topics in species conservation. Based broadly in Conservation Biology, the module will also span many other academic disciplines including environmental activism, zoo biology, conservation educational studies. It is increasingly recognised in academia and beyond that conservation and animal welfare, protection and advocacy are interconnected and mutually deterministic. To examine the interplay between welfare and conservation is at the forefront of study today. The student will learn about conservation of individual animals, species and also human societies and core values. Exploring topic like applied zoo biology but also conservation education and training programmes in host countries. This is a holistic approach to conservation. 

This module introduces students to animal advocacy as a modern social movement. How do contemporary animal protection organisations campaign for animals? How has the animal protection advocacy movement evolved since the establishment of the first organisations in Britain in the early nineteenth century? Modern animal protection organisations use the internet and social media to reach as wide an audience as possible. They have goals including promoting welfare, animal rights and abolition of animal use, and the conservation of endangered species. The module explores how advocacy groups advance the interests of animals in theory and practice. Social movements such as civil rights, feminism, and environmentalism also inform the module. 

This module provides an opportunity for students to consider a range of issues associated with nonhuman animals in society using film texts/documentaries. The objectives are to encourage students to develop a critical imagination when thinking about the wider structural issues explored in the films and documentaries and to consider the place and significance of visual media in contemporary thinking about nonhuman animals. Students will undertake a close reading of key texts in the field and related disciplines that are thematically linked to the films and documentaries screened. They will identify the key arguments and concepts in these texts and relate them to issues raised in the films and documentaries. This will provide them with the analytic resources required to achieve a more effectively structured exploration and analysis of the issues addressed in the films and documentaries and allow them to reflect on the impact of visual media in contemporary views about nonhuman animals.

Utilising ideas from modernism, post-modernism and post-humanism this module challenges current ways of thinking about nonhuman animals and their relationships with humans.  The module encourages students to reflect upon taken for granted ways of conceptualising human relationships with nonhuman animals. Students engage with theories associated with the social science and humanities disciplines including sociology, anthropology, philosophy and social theory. The module will include consideration of ethics, (which is concerned with fundamental and practical questions about right and wrong, about moral duty, virtue and character, and the good of human beings, communities and societies) in respect of human nonhuman animal relations. This module explores a range of ethical theories and approaches to moral deliberation and practice. It investigates some of the ethical resources and approaches found in religious and theological traditions. It explores the interaction between ethical theory and moral practice, and engages with a range of practical ethical issues drawn from fields such as bio-medical, environmental, social and political ethics.

This module examines the historical and contemporary development of animal welfare legislation and public policy, and the processes by which these are created, applied, monitored and enforced. It reviews and compares British and key international animal welfare legislation and policies. Other important conventions (e.g. CITES), principles and Codes of Practice regarding animal welfare will also be reviewed. The potential and limitations of such legislative and policy instruments in upholding and protecting animal welfare will be considered. The module will also review some contemporary debates in the field of animal law and public policy, such as the legal status of animals as property, and the guardian/owner debate, and the merits of mandated reporting of suspected animal abuse by veterinarians and other professionals.

This module reviews the historical development and contemporary understanding of animal welfare, and highlights advancements in our understanding of pain, stress, suffering, and most recently, positive mental states.  Students will learn about the physiological bases of and differences between pain, stress and suffering. The importance of positive psychological and social states for animal welfare will be discussed. Students will also learn about physiological, behavioural and other indicators of animal welfare. Pathological behaviours such as stereotypies will help students to connect this module with the other behavioural modules within this programme. The module will also introduce students to major animal welfare assessment frameworks (such as the Five Freedoms), and students will learn how to put these frameworks into practice by conducting welfare assessment of different species in different settings.

This module builds upon Research Methods 1. At level 4 students will focus on qualitative research methods, while in the current level 5 module, students will focus on quantitative research methods. Students will learn about theoretical underpinning of quantitative research methods, data collection and data analysis techniques using appropriate statistical software to aid in their use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Transferable skills associated with engaging with, synthesising and offering a critique of quantitative data as well as communicating research effectively are essential elements of this module. The module will help prepare students for the Level 6 Dissertation and help students interpret quantitative-based readings in natural sciences.

• Volunteering - 15 credits
• The Environment, Climate Change and Globalisation - 15 credits
• Religion and Spirituality in Contemporary Society - 15 credits
• Political Leadership and Communication - 15 credits
• Global Governance - 15 credits

This module facilitates the engagement of students with the world of work post-graduation. The module asks students to approach a range of groups associated with animals to negotiate a placement that helps them explore a real-world work interest that has arisen in relation to the curriculum followed in the BA programme so far. In doing so, students develop skills in real-world self-presentation; in negotiation; in understanding the expectations of employers, collectives, agencies, production companies or venues with regards to employment; and to explore specific roles and career goals in the general realm of animal welfare and protection in order to critically evaluate their own development needs and to understand the ladders of experience they wish to begin to climb in order to ‘make’ their ideal career(s) happen.

This module appraises the causation of abnormal behaviour and the principles of behavioural assessment and behavioural modification. Fundamentally, this module links behaviour to welfare and the ways in which behavioural techniques can be applied to promote good welfare. Having considered behavioural repertoires in wild and captive animals, and critically applying Tinbergen’s Four Questions to understand behaviour, common maladaptive behaviours in domesticated and non-domesticated species are discussed: redirected, self-injurious, compulsive and stereotypical behaviours, for example. The common causes of these behaviours are critically evaluated in detail, as are the behaviours’ biological or psychological functions. Humane strategies for alleviating or managing these behaviours are critiqued, including environmental enrichment, positive reinforcement training, genetic selection, stockmanship and pharmaceutical treatment.

This module is seminal to your completion of an honours degree. Performing an extended research project showcases your academic and subject-specific skills and knowledge, while developing/embedding those skills further in preparation for your next stage of study or employment. Being able to critically evaluate and analyse concepts, data and your own work are highly desirable graduate skills which are in demand in the workplace. Developing a sense of autonomy is imperative for graduates and conducting a dissertation will provide much opportunity to develop autonomy. This module is the pinnacle of your undergraduate degree. The dissertation is an extended treatment of 8,000 words on a subject of the student’s choice (subject to approval). Study is primarily student-directed, with supervision supplied by tutors teaching/researching in the subject area.

This module explores political theory and animals. Major political philosophies such as utilitarianism, liberalism, communitarianism, Marxism and feminism are discussed in their relation to animals. Are nonhuman animals a part of the political community and do we owe animals justice? What is justice and what would it mean for nonhuman animals? How do political institutions consider animals and how should governments make policy on sentient species? Which political theories are better suited to incorporate animals in a theory of justice? In a world where societies routinely use animals on an industrial scale, how can the distinction between ideal and nonideal political theory inform the political representation of animals? Finally, the module will consider how the political representation of animals relates to that of other historically oppressed groups.

• Animals and the Arts  15 Credits
• Animals and Alternatives Within Research and Education  15 Credits
• Politics, Energy and the Environment  15 Credits
• Social Movements and Collective Action in the Internet Age  15 Credits
• Political Leadership and Communication  15 Credits