Foundations of Environmental Humanities

Module title	Foundations of Environmental Humanities
Module code	HIC1010
Academic year	2024/5
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Wendy McMahon ()

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	32

Module description

This module introduces you to the insights provided by a range of humanities disciplines dealing with urgent issues of climate and environmental change. You will be introduced to key concepts and ideas and will track the emergence of Environmental Humanities as a new interdisciplinary field. You will get to learn about cultural, ethical, historical, social, political, legal and literary perspectives representing environmental humanities inquiry. You will study an array of theories, themes, issues, questions, and debates within the humanities in dialogue with the sciences. We will address issues associated with knowledge, meaning, justice, crisis, and sustainability.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to introduce you to the main themes, theories and discussion in current Environmental Humanities research, by focusing on cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives and approaches. You will develop a broad understanding of the relationship of nature, culture, history, science, technology, politics and economy in the context of today’s climate and environmental crises. You will develop knowledge of the multi-layered and historically contingent relationship of nature, culture, politics, economy and science. We will discuss different perspectives on environmental, social and multi-species justice.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Demonstrate a broad historical, literary and political knowledge and understanding of the meanings of the field of Environmental Humanities.
2. Engage with independent ideas and show understanding of the role of interdisciplinary research to dealing with climate and environmental change.
3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the use and significance of humanities-led research on issues of climate and environmental change.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

4. Analyse and reflect creatively upon different kinds of sources in relation to environmental humanities research.
5. Engage critically with a variety of different disciplinary practices in their relationship to environmental issues.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

6. Show persuasive communication skills and group working skills.
7. Demonstrate effective research skills and ability to articulate module themes and issues.
8. Realise competent time-management and independent critical thinking.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

Introducing the Anthropocene
The Invention of Nature
Environmentalism and Ecocriticism
Environmental Racism and Justice
Decolonising Nature: Postcolonial and Indigenous Perspectives
Queer and Feminist Ecologies
Multi-species Studies
Environmental Fiction
Art in the Anthropocene
Posthumanism

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	11	Lectures
Scheduled learning and teaching	11	Seminars
Guided independent study	128	Reading, assessment preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Draft participation diary	500 words	1-8	Written /oral

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
Participation Diary which should include a critical review of the weekly themes and issues discussed on the module.	100	2500 words	1-8	Written feedback
	0
	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
Participation diary	Critical Review of the themes and issues addressed on the module (2000 words)	1-8	Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Carson, Rachel. 2002 (1962). Silent Spring. Fortieth Anniversary Edition. Boston and New York: Mariner Books. Selected Chapters.

Chakrabarty, Dipesh. 2009. “The Climate of History: Four Theses.” Critical Inquiry, 35 (Winter 2009): 197–222.

Chakrabarty, Dipesh. 2012. “Postcolonial Studies and the Challenge of Climate Change.” New Literary History, 43 (1): 1–18.

Cole, Luke W., and Sheila R. Foster. 2001. From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise ofthe Environmental Justice Movement. New York and London: NYU Press, 19–33.

Crutzen, Paul J. 2002. “Geology of Mankind.” Nature, 415 (January 3, 2002): 23.

Davis, Heather, and Etienne Turpin. 2015. “Art & Death: Lives Between the Fifth Assessment & the Sixth Extinction.” In Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Aesthetics, Politics, Environments and Epistemologies. Eds. Heather Davis and Etienne Turpin. London: Open Humanities Press, 3–30.

Heise, Ursula K. 2017. “Planet, Species, Justice—and the Stories We Tell about Them.” In The Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities. Eds. Ursula Heise, Jon Christensen, and Michelle Niemann. London and New York: Routledge.

Le Guin, Ursula K. 1996. “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction.” In The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. eds. Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. Athens, GA and London: The University of Georgia Press, 149–154.

Neimanis, Astrida, Cecilia AÌ?sberg, and Johan HedreÌ?n. 2015. “Four Problems, Four Directions for Environmental Humanities: Toward Critical Posthumanities for the Anthropocene.” Ethics and the Environment, 20 (1): 67–97.

Sandilands, Catriona. 2017. “Some ‘F’ Words for the Environmental Humanities: Feralities, Feminisms, Futurities.” In Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities. Ed. Ursula K. Heise. New York: Routledge.

Van Dooren, Thom, Eben Kirksey, and Ursula MuÌ?nster. 2016. “Multispecies Studies: Cultivating Arts of Attentiveness.” Environmental Humanities, 8 (1): 1–23.

Whyte, Kyle. 2017. “Our Ancestor’s Dystopia Now: Indigenous Conservation and the Anthropocene.” In Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities. Eds. Ursula K. Heise, Jon Christensen, and Michelle Niemann. New York: Routledge.

Wulf, Andrea. 2016. The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Chapters “Beginnings” &“Imagination and Nature: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Humboldt”, 13–38

Key words search

Anthropocene, nature, history, eco-criticism, justice, decolonisation, political economy, environmental humanities

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	4
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	01/07/2022
Last revision date	04/10/2023