Value Studies
Module Catalogue
Semester 1 – 2015/2016
Module Code:
Module Name:
VA1001
Culture: High and Low
Module Credits:
No. of Periods:
Level:
Module Tutor:
15
1
Level 4
Thomas Norgaard
Module Description:
Ideas about 'culture' play a complex role in contemporary discussions about what matters in life.
This module is designed to help students get a grip on this difficult concept and to introduce them to
some of the fundamental questions that are being addressed when ideas about culture become
central to our theoretical inquiries, practical projects and dramatic disagreements. Themes of the
module include: the contested notions of high culture and mass culture, the distinction between
culture and civilization, culture's relation to politics and social criticism, multiculturalism, culture and
technology, performance culture, material culture, and cultural flourishing and devastation. The
distinction between high and low, or highs and lows, runs like a red thread throughout the module
and invites us to reflect on our basic assumptions about progress, decadence and hierarchy.
Specific to:
Assessments:
VERSION A
001:
002:
OR
VERSION B
Response papers (350 words each) - required for
9 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
002:
003:
Response papers (350 words each) - required for
5 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
Essay (1400 words)
Availability:
Occ.
A
Year
15/16
001:
Semester
S1
2
90%
10%
50%
10%
40%
Module Code:
Module Name:
Module Credits:
No. of Periods:
Level:
Module Tutor:
VA1003
Other Animals: Contemporary Moral Frontiers
15
1
Level 4
Thomas Norgaard
Module Description:
The relation between humans and other animals constitutes one of the frontiers of moral life today.
Qualms about factory farming and meat-eating are widespread. So are worries about animal
experimentation and zoos. In this module, these various moral anxieties provide starting points for a
series of inquiries into the current lives of non-human animals and their relation to us humans. How,
and to what extent, do we understand other animals? What do we owe other animals, wild and
tame? Is it true, as the animal rights movement insists, that we stand in deeply flawed relations to
the other animals? And if so, what should we do about it? How, in a (more) ideal world, would
humans and other animals relate to one another? What, in other words, are the values that should
guide our relations to the other animals in the future?
Specific to:
Assessments:
VERSION A
001:
002:
OR
VERSION B
Response papers (350 words each) - required for
9 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
002:
003:
Response papers (350 words each) - required for
5 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
Essay (1400 words)
Availability:
Occ.
A
Year
15/16
001:
Semester
S1
3
90%
10%
50%
10%
40%
Module Code:
Module Name:
VA2001
Culture: High and Low
Module Credits:
No. of Periods:
Level:
Module Tutor:
15
1
Level 5
Thomas Norgaard
Module Description:
Ideas about 'culture' play a complex role in contemporary discussions about what matters in life.
This module is designed to help students get a grip on this difficult concept and to introduce them to
some of the fundamental questions that are being addressed when ideas about culture become
central to our theoretical inquiries, practical projects and dramatic disagreements. Themes of the
module include: the contested notions of high culture and mass culture, the distinction between
culture and civilization, culture's relation to politics and social criticism, multiculturalism, culture and
technology, performance culture, material culture, and cultural flourishing and devastation. The
distinction between high and low, or highs and lows, runs like a red thread throughout the module
and invites us to reflect on our basic assumptions about progress, decadence and hierarchy.
Specific to:
Assessments:
VERSION A
001:
002:
OR
VERSION B
Response papers (450 words each) required for 9 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
002:
003:
Response Papers (450 words each) Required for 5 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
Essay (1800 words)
Availability:
Occ.
A
Year
15/16
001:
Semester
S1
4
90%
10%
50%
10%
40%
Module Code:
Module Name:
VA2003
Other Animals: Contemporary Moral Frontiers
Module Credits:
No. of Periods:
Level:
Module Tutor:
15
1
Level 5
Thomas Norgaard
Module Description:
The relation between humans and other animals constitutes one of the frontiers of moral life today.
Qualms about factory farming and meat-eating are widespread. So are worries about animal
experimentation and zoos. In this module, these various moral anxieties provide starting points for a
series of inquiries into the current lives of non-human animals and their relation to us humans. How,
and to what extent, do we understand other animals? What do we owe other animals, wild and
tame? Is it true, as the animal rights movement insists, that we stand in deeply flawed relations to
the other animals? And if so, what should we do about it? How, in a (more) ideal world, would
humans and other animals relate to one another? What, in other words, are the values that should
guide our relations to the other animals in the future?
Specific to:
Assessments:
VERSION A
001:
002:
OR
VERSION B
Response papers (450 words each) required for 9 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
002:
003:
Response Papers (450 words each) Required for 5 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
Essay (1800 words)
Availability:
Occ.
A
Year
15/16
001:
Semester
S1
5
90%
10%
50%
10%
40%
Module Code:
Module Name:
VA3001
Culture: High and Low
Module Credits:
No. of Periods:
Level:
Module Tutor:
15
1
Level 6
Thomas Norgaard
Module Description:
Ideas about 'culture' play a complex role in contemporary discussions about what matters in life.
This module is designed to help students get a grip on this difficult concept and to introduce them to
some of the fundamental questions that are being addressed when ideas about culture become
central to our theoretical inquiries, practical projects and dramatic disagreements. Themes of the
module include: the contested notions of high culture and mass culture, the distinction between
culture and civilization, culture's relation to politics and social criticism, multiculturalism, culture and
technology, performance culture, material culture, and cultural flourishing and devastation. The
distinction between high and low, or highs and lows, runs like a red thread throughout the module
and invites us to reflect on our basic assumptions about progress, decadence and hierarchy.
Specific to:
Assessments:
VERSION A
001:
002:
OR
VERSION B
Response papers (450 words each) required for 9 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
002:
003:
Response Papers (450 words each) Required for 5 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
Essay (1800 words)
Availability:
Occ.
A
Year
15/16
001:
Semester
S1
6
90%
10%
50%
10%
40%
Module Code: VA3003
Module Name: Other Animals: Contemporary Moral Frontiers
Module Credits:
No. of Periods:
Level:
Module Tutor:
15
1
Level 6
Thomas Norgaard
Module Description:
The relation between humans and other animals constitutes one of the frontiers of moral life today.
Qualms about factory farming and meat-eating are widespread. So are worries about animal
experimentation and zoos. In this module, these various moral anxieties provide starting points for a
series of inquiries into the current lives of non-human animals and their relation to us humans. How,
and to what extent, do we understand other animals? What do we owe other animals, wild and
tame? Is it true, as the animal rights movement insists, that we stand in deeply flawed relations to
the other animals? And if so, what should we do about it? How, in a (more) ideal world, would
humans and other animals relate to one another? What, in other words, are the values that should
guide our relations to the other animals in the future?
Specific to:
Assessments:
VERSION A
001:
002:
OR
VERSION B
Response papers (450 words each) required for 9 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
002:
003:
Response Papers (450 words each) Required for 5 out of 12 seminars
Seminar participation
Essay (1800 words)
Availability:
Occ.
A
Year
15/16
001:
Semester
S1
7
90%
10%
50%
10%
40%