Høst 2026

MIK-1023 Multispecies Anthropology: Humans and Animals on a Disrupted Planet - 2.5 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for samfunnsvitenskap

Course contents

Multispecies Anthropology explores the entangled lives of humans and other beings—animals, plants, microbes, and landscapes—foregrounding their mutual co-shaping of worlds. This course examines how ethnographic inquiry can attend to the agencies, affects, and lifeways of nonhuman species, and how these relationships challenge conventional understandings of personhood, kinship, and social life. Drawing on ecological perspectives, indigenous knowledge systems, and more-than-human ethnography, we will investigate how different cultures live with, think with, and relate to other species, expanding the scope of anthropology beyond the human.

Objective of the course

Students who complete the course have the following learning outcome:

Knowledge/Skills/Competance

The student is able to:

1. introduce students to theoretical frameworks and methodologies for studying the relationships between humans and non-human entities.

2. explore the diversity of cultural beliefs, practices, and ontologies regarding the more-than-human world.

3. critically analyse the implications of anthropocentrism and speciesism in shaping human attitudes towards non-human beings.

4. examine the intersections between ecology, spirituality, and cosmology in indigenous and traditional societies.

5. investigate contemporary debates and ethical dilemmas surrounding human-animal relations, environmental conservation, and animal rights.

6. foster a deeper appreciation for the complexity and interconnectedness of life forms beyond the human realm.

Language of instruction

English

Teaching methods

The course has pre-recorded online lectures and digital seminars.