Animals in Media and Culture

Description

The giant pandas in Ouwehands zoo, the cows and the nitrogen crisis, the first wolfs back in the Netherlands, the discovery of a new monkey species. Or: The Lion King and Finding Nemo , March of the Penguins and David Attenborough. And of course: all these cute cat videos on the web! Animals have become prominent, not just in media and culture but recently also in media and cultural studies (and disciplines like history, philosophy and law). The omnipresence of animals in contemporary audiovisual and popular culture, shows how important and significant they (still) are to us humans. Moreover, our images of non-human animals have an enormous impact on the way we relate to them in real life – and vice versa. In this lecture series we will explore various genres, from hunting films via Disney animations and nature series to reality TV and video games, to analyse how our changing view on animals is reflected in their media representations. With the rise of digital media, images of animals are becoming increasingly diverse - and AI and self-learning algorithms are now even raising the question: will we ever be able to not only look at and listen to them, but also communicate with them...? Objectives: At the end of the course the student is able to: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the central issues within the specialized research field of animal studies Recognize and explain the main theoretical approaches and concepts within the field of animal studies Reproduce, apply and critically evaluate various arguments regarding the role of animals in our (media) culture, I.e. the way we think about them, represent them and deal with them Apply these arguments in a small research paper containing an analysis of a film or website, cultural product or phenomenon, public discussion or any other object containing or relating to real or symbolic animals