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People and Nature

Module description

In this module we explore relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world, and how our conceptualisations, representations and interactions with ‘nature’ shape the way we engage with and manage our environments. Working through historical, contemporary and cross-cultural ideas, we explore different theorisations of nature, from something ‘out there’ to something that is very much a part of our (more than) human existence. From the deepest forest to your back garden, we examine contemporary relations and tensions between different kinds of natures and cultures. We consider how the management and conservation of the natural world is contested and negotiated both in environmental conflicts and everyday life. We also explore the way nature is portrayed in art and visual media.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to develop your understanding of the theoretical and substantive approaches to the study of nature in human geography and beyond. It sets out the key theoretical debates and shows how these affect our understandings of what belongs in nature, where nature belongs, and how we should act towards ‘natural’ beings, things, and spaces. The module encourages the real-world application of academic theories about nature to real world debates on a diverse range of topics, from wilderness preservation to managing microbiomes. A key aim of the module is to improve understanding of how different perceptions, valuations and politics of nature produce controversies and conflicts in conservation and environmental management. Module content will draw on the module convenor’s own research on the ecological politics of invasive species management, rewilding, and domestic wildlife.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. Describe and evaluate, with some assistance, the methods and theories that human geographers use to understand how people make sense of nature
• 2. Explain how human conceptualisations of nature inform our understandings of place, environment, culture and identity
• 3. Critically discuss the concepts, assumptions and processes that underpin different approaches to environmental management and conservation

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 4. Identify critical questions from the literature and synthesise research-informed examples from the literature into written work
• 5. Identify and implement, with some guidance, appropriate methodologies and theories for addressing specific research problems in human geography
• 6. Evaluate and explore, with some help, geography’s interdisciplinary links with other social science disciplines and the natural sciences, and how these inform the conceptualisation and management of nature

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 7. Develop, with some guidance, a logical and reasoned argument with valid conclusions
• 8. Communicate ideas, principles and theories fluently using a variety of formats in a manner appropriate to the intended audience
• 9. Collect and interpret appropriate data and complete research-like tasks, drawing on a range of sources, with limited guidance

Syllabus plan

• Introduction: ideas about nature
• Controversy, conflict, and the politics of nature
• Nature ‘out there’ I: wilderness
• Nature ‘out there’ II: restoration and rewilding
• Nature ‘out there’ III: nature out of place
• Nature nearby I: nature-cultures
• Nature nearby II: urban natures
• Nature within I: the human ecosystem
• Nature within II: biotechnology and synthetic biology
• Representing nature in art and visual media

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

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 sit a further examination or submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Books

• Castree, N. (2013). Making sense of nature. Routledge.
• Robbins, P., Hintz, J. and Moore, S. (2015). Environment and Society: a critical introduction. Wiley.
• Lorimer, J. (2015). Wildlife in the Anthropocene: conservation after nature. University of Minnesota Press.
• Adams, B. (2013). Against Extinction: the story of conservation.
• Milton, K. (2000). Loving Nature: towards an ecology of emotion. Routledge.

Articles

• González-Hidalgo, M., & Zografos, C. (2019). Emotions, power, and environmental conflict: Expanding the ‘emotional turn’ in political ecology. Progress in Human Geography: 0309132518824644.
• Cronon, W. (1996). The trouble with Wilderness. Environmental History, 1(1), pp.20-25.
• Lorimer, J., Sandom, C., Jepson, P., Doughty, C., Barua, M., & Kirby, K. J. (2015). Rewilding: Science, practice, and politics. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 40, 39-62.
• Crowley, S. L., Hinchliffe, S., & McDonald, R. A. (2017). Nonhuman citizens on trial: The ecological politics of a beaver reintroduction. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 49(8), 1846-1866.
• Robbins, P. (2004). Comparing invasive networks: cultural and political biographies of invasive species. Geographical Review, 94(2), 139-156.
• Hinchliffe, S., & Whatmore, S. (2006). Living cities: towards a politics of conviviality. Science as Culture, 15(2), 123-138.
• Beck, A. (2019). Microbiomes as companion species: an exploration of dis-and re-entanglements with the microbial self. Social & Cultural Geography, 1-19.

Suggested Journals

• Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space
• People and Nature
• Ambio
• Social and Cultural Geography

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE page

Key words search

Nature, culture, human geography, political ecology, biodiversity conservation, environmental conflict, wildlife management, urban ecology, rewilding