Environment and Society
| Module title | Environment and Society |
|---|---|
| Module code | ANT2097 |
| Academic year | 2023/4 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Dr Astrid Schrader (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 30 |
|---|
Module description
This module introduces you to methodologies and approaches in Science and Technology Studies as they pertain to the analysis of environmental problems. We will explore how science, technology and society interact to determine what counts as an environmental problem. We will ask, for example:
- How are possible responses to environmental crises shaped by technological development and assumptions about what counts as ‘nature’?
- How do regulatory institutions deal with uncertainties in science?
- Who is an expert and who contributes to environmental knowledge production?
- How is environmental risk regulated in different countries?
- What is the relationship between science and politics in various approaches to environmental problems?
These questions will be investigated with the help of a range of case studies. You will become familiar with debates around climate change, genetically modified foods, biodiversity, invasive species, indoor pollution and analyse responses to environmental disasters such as Chernobyl, Bhopal, Hurricane Katarina.
The module consists of a combination of lectures and seminar based discussions of pre-assigned readings. There are no prerequisites and it is suitable for non-specialist students in the social and natural sciences, the humanities and engineering and is highly appropriate for students following interdisciplinary pathways.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module explores how science, technology and society interact to determine what counts as an environmental problem. The aim of the module is to familiarize you with a wide range of environmental problems and methodologies to analyse them. An important focus will be the role of science and divergent understandings of nature in the analysis of environmental issues. You will learn how interdisciplinary approaches to controversies over environmental problems may complicate the debates and read popular media reports of environmental issues more critically. We will discuss the meanings, political uses, and abuses of uncertainties in science, the affirmations of risks and the relationships between environmental and social justice.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. demonstrate familiarity with different approaches to environmental problem and different roles of science.
- 2. discuss conflicting meanings of scientific evidence, social responsibility, uncertainty in science and politics, and critically assess the depiction of environmental problems in popular media and the relationship between social and environmental justice
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. demonstrate awareness and understanding of a range of social scientific, historical, and philosophical perspectives;
- 4. identify the core theoretical assumptions
- 5. apply a range of theoretical and interpretive perspectives to the task of sociological and anthropological analysis;
- 6. demonstrate appreciation of the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of different and competing social scientific, historical, and philosophical perspectives.
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. reflect on, and examine critically, taken-for-granted social, cultural and ethical assumptions, beliefs and values;
- 8. analyse, evaluate, and communicate, clearly and directly, a wide range of explanatory and interpretive theoretical perspectives; assess evidence, marshal facts and construct arguments
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Introduction: Nature and the Environment in Science and Technology Studies
- GM Foods
- Climate Controversies and Consensus
- Un/natural disaster
- Scientific Uncertainties and Environmental Health
- Wilderness Discourses and Social Natures
- Environment and Social Justice
- Making Species: Natives, Aliens and Endangered
- Biodiversity: Concepts, Discourses and Practices
- Experts, Laypeople and Other Animals
- BSE Crisis – a British Example of “Risk Society”
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity | 22 | 11 x 2 hour weekly lectures/seminars (or 1 hour lecture + 1 hour seminar) |
| Guided Independent study | 66 | Readings for seminars |
| Guided Independent study | 62 | Researching and writing the essay |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 x Reading responses | 200 words each | 1-8 | Written feedback |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay proposal/plan | 20 | 700 words | 1-8 | Written feedback |
| Research essay | 80 | 2,500 words | 1-8 | Written feedback |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay proposal/plan | Essay plan/outline (700 words) | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
| Research essay | Research essay (2,500 words) | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Yearley, Steven (2008), 'Nature and the Environment in Science and Technology Studies', in The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, Third Edition, eds. Edward J. Hackett, et al., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 921-47.
Jasanoff, Sheila (2005), Designs on Nature; Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, Chapters 4&5.
Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society, London Sage
Gusterson, Hugh (2005), 'Decoding the Debate on 'Frankenfood'', in Making Threats: Biofears and Environmental Anxieties, eds. Betsy Hartmann, Banu Subramaniam, and Charles Zerner, Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 109-33.
Latour, Bruno (2007), 'A Plea for Earthly Sciences', keynote lecture for the annual meeting of the British Sociological Association, East London, April 2007.
Smith, Neil (2005), 'There's No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster', in Understanding Katrina: Perspectives from the Social Sciences. SSRC Forum, New York, NY: Social Science Research Council.
Murphy, Michelle (2006), Sick Building Syndrome and the Problem of Uncertainty: Environmental Politics, Technoscience, and Women Workers; Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Chapters 4 & 5.
Cronon, William (1995), 'The Trouble with Wilderness or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature', in Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature, ed. William Cronon, New York: W.W. Norton and Co, pp. 69 - 90.
Helmreich, Stefan (2005), 'How Scientists Think; About ‘Natives,’ for Example: A Problem of Taxonomy among Biologists of Alien Species in Hawaii', The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 11 (1), pp. 107-27
Thompson, Charis (2002), ‘When Elephants Stand for Competing Philosophies of Nature: Amboseli National Park’, in Complexities. John Law and Annemarie Mol, eds. (Duke UP), pp. 166-90.
Hinchliffe, Steve (2001), 'Indeterminacy In-Decisions: Science, Policy and Politics in the BSE Crisis', Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 26 (2), pp. 182-204.
Adam, Barbara (1998), 'Industrial Food for Thought', in Timescapes of Modernity: The Environment & Invisible Hazards, London: Routledge, pp. 127-62.
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 5 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 29/12/2015 |
| Last revision date | 28/01/2022 |
