This module introduces students to a wide-ranging view of the relationship of people, animals and plants. In respect of the BSc programmes in Biodiversity Conservation and Management and Wildlife Conservation, the module will provide social, political and cultural perspectives that will complement the other areas of study within that degree. In respect of the BA in Social Anthropoogy, it will introduce students to some of the technical aspects of ethnobiology. The module emphasises the importance of culture in mediating the use of plants and animals among humans, and explores the role of wild and domestic plants and animals in human evolution, including the way human societies have manipulated and altered the lanscape. The application of ethnobiology to contemporary problems in conservation, development and human rights is also explored.

50% Coursework, 50% Exam

• Balick, M.J. and Cox, P.A., "Plants, People and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany", New York: Scientific American Library, 1996
• Cunningham, A., "Applied Ethnobotany", 2001
• Martin, G.J., "Ethnobotany: A Methods Manual," London: Chapman and Hall, 1995
• Rival, L. ed., "The Social Life of Trees: An Anthropological Perspective on Tree Symbolism", Berg, 1998
• Schultes and Hofmann, "Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use", New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979
• Ingold, T. (ed.), "What Is An Animals?" (One World Archaeology), London: Routledge, 1988
• Moulton, M.P and Sanderson, J., "Wildlife Issues in a Changing World", St. Lucie Press, Florida USA, 1997

See the library reading list for this module

• The wide-ranging relationship between humans and animals.
• How animals have affected human history and have contributed to the structure of contemporary societies around the world.
• Aspects of utilitarian, welfare and rights-based perspectives, among others, that affect contemporary relationships with animals.
• Mythological and religious perspectives of animals.
• The legal status of animals: concepts of ownership, the differentiation between wild, 'game' and domesticated species and the regulation of animal welfare.
• The politics of the relationship between humans and animals and the dynamics of animal protection.
• The basic theories of how plants are named, identified and classified by different peoples, including botanical scientists.
• Cross-cultural variation in the use of plants, both as symbols (in art and ritual) and as materials (in food, medicine, construction and handicrafts, among other things).
• The linkages between plant diversity and human cultural diversity in time and space, including the origins of domestication and agriculture.
• Anthropological theories of local plant knowledge, its generation, transmission, alteration and loss.
• Hows to collect an ethnobotanical voucher specimen and prepare a collection record and lablel.

No pre-requisites