Students can learn about donkey from Shrek as part of Exeter uni module

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15 hours ago

A new university course places donkeys at the forefront, examining how films like Shrek portray their “inner lives.”

The University of Exeter has recently introduced a film studies module exploring the portrayal of donkeys in cinema, in collaboration with The Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth.

The module Scrublands, Sanctuary, Screens: Co-Creating Knowledges alongside Donkeys explores how films like Shrek, The Banshees of Inisherin, and EO depict donkeys. It also examines portrayals in television and folklore.

This new module marks the first collaboration between The Donkey Sanctuary and a university’s humanities faculty.

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Throughout the course, students will compare cinematic portrayals with real-life donkey behaviour, challenging stubborn and comedic stereotypes. They will also create video diaries for the Sanctuary’s Education Centre.

Dr. Fiona Handyside, co-lead for the module in Exeter’s Department of Communications, Drama, and Film, said: “When the actor Colin Farrell and the director Martin McDonagh both acknowledged Jenny the Donkey in their acceptance speeches for Banshees at The Golden Globes, it raised fascinating questions for how we think about interpreting animal performance.

“And that has led to this first-of-its-kind module, where we bring together the Film department’s insight of representation and performance, with The Sanctuary’s expertise and knowledge in providing holistic care to donkeys and thinking about their contribution to society.”

Dr. Faith Burden, Deputy CEO of The Donkey Sanctuary welcomes the module’s potential to positively impact the welfare of donkeys and other animals in film, saying:

“It’s fantastic to know that a new generation of filmmakers will have a critical understanding of the link between the way animals are portrayed on-screen and the values we accord them in real life, and the implications this has for their welfare.

“For too long donkeys have been misrepresented in popular culture and this has done them a great disservice. By observing and spending time with the donkeys here in Sidmouth, these students will have the chance to develop a lifelong appreciation of what sensitive and intelligent animals they really are, and the impact their work can have on them.”

Dr. Benedict Morrison, Senior Lecturer in Film, and fellow co-lead for the module, added: “No one has ever attempted this kind of collaboration before – it’s an extraordinary opportunity for a truly joint venture between The Sanctuary and the University.

“Its aim is to transform how we think about our relationship with not just donkeys, but animals more widely – or ‘more than human animals’ as we refer to them in academic study. In partnering with the Sanctuary, the donkeys are not just distant objects of study; they become participants, ‘in conversation’ with the students.

“The attempt by contemporary media to reduce donkeys to a set of symbolic meanings – the stubborn, the stupid, the indolent – is deeply unfair. We hope that through the opportunity to speak with people who work with them every day, we can get some sense of the real lived experience of donkeys.”