| Unit name | Themes in Environmental Humanities |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HUMSM0009 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Murray |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Introduction to Environmental Humanities |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Humanities |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
This unit builds on the work done in ‘Introduction to Environmental Humanities’ by allowing students to explore topics that have attracted particular attention in environmental humanities scholarship. These may change from year to year in response to the latest developments, but may include the Anthropocene (and critiques of that concept), the blue humanities, biodiversity, petrofiction, forest history, and animal studies, among others. In each case, you will be encouraged to consider different disciplinary approaches to the topic, and to develop a critical appreciation of the strengths and limitations of existing scholarship. As in ‘Introduction to Environmental Humanities’, the relationship between academic practice and other forms of environmental engagement and activism will be afforded particular attention.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Gaining knowledge of important trends in environmental humanities scholarship will help you situate your own research project within the broader field, and may provide inspiration for a focus for further study or career options. This unit will also allow you to apply and strengthen the skills acquired in ‘Introduction to Environmental Humanities’, as well as those you acquire in your TB2 research skills unit.
An overview of content
After an introductory session, each week of this unit will cover an important concept or area of scholarly interest in the environmental humanities, with a related aim of developing a critical understanding of the causes and consequences of a range of contemporary environmental challenges. Topics will be approached through a combination of primary sources (e.g. literary texts, historical documents, audiovisual media) and secondary critical material. For instance, students may explore the blue humanities through the poetry of Craig Santos Perez, or discuss differing conceptions of the Anthropocene in light of the critical writing of Amitav Ghosh and Dipesh Chakrabarty.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
You will acquire in-depth knowledge of a range of key topics in the environmental humanities, and will be able to approach them from different disciplinary positions. You will be able to evaluate recent scholarship in the area, and build your own original arguments in dialogue with existing critical perspectives. You will have gained experience of co-authoring a piece of academic writing.
Learning Outcomes
This unit will be taught via a weekly two-hour seminar, which will include short (15-20 minute) lecture style plenary presentations by the seminar tutor and student-led discussion of key texts. In a typical year, three academic staff, ideally with different environmental humanities backgrounds, will be responsible for teaching the unit, collaborating on the teaching of the first and last seminars and then teaching three seminars each. As in ‘Introduction to Environmental Humanities’, the unit will include regular contributions from non-academic professionals and community organisations working in related areas, and field trips to sites of relevant community projects in Bristol. Each seminar tutor will coordinate and host one contribution from a non-academic partner, for a total of three such contributions over the course of the unit. Where necessary, local travel costs for external participants will be covered by the discretionary budget that is available for this programme.
A group podcast (15-20 minutes) providing a short introduction to one of the unit’s weekly topics and proposing questions for discussion in seminars.
4,000-word essay on one of the topics covered in the unit. Students will develop their own question in consultation with the unit tutor (75%).
A 1,000 word co-authored introduction to a group of the 4,000-word essays (25%). In this co-authored piece of academic writing, students will identify and analyse connections between the essays. A group mark will be awarded for this assessment.
If a student fails the 4,000-word essay assessment, an opportunity to submit a similar assignment (answering a different or reworded question) will be provided in the August re-assessment period. Similarly, if a group fails the co-authored writing assignment, they will have the opportunity to submit a new piece of work in the same form in the August re-assessment period. The reassessment period is scheduled for August and is designed to cause minimum disruptions to future units, but there will likely be some impact caused by overlapping assessments, especially with dissertation research and writing. This will be mitigated by the ongoing personal tutoring over the summer, with personal tutors helping students to plan ahead and to spread workload across the available time
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HUMSM0009).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
