Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

The Global Environment and its Crises in Historical Perspective.

This course provides an introduction to the growing field of global environmental history. Focusing on contemporary debates, it aims to consider the historical roots of our current environmental crises, from climate change to pandemic diseases. The course provides a long-term historical and global overview of the main environmental transformations and challenges, with an admittedly strong focus on the recent past. Topics include the industrialization of the natural world, the rise of environmentalism, the discovery of global warming and the recurrence of ecological disasters. The course also discusses the concepts of Columbian exchange, ecological imperialism, biopiracy, ecocide and the Anthropocene.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

- Identify the main environmental transformations in world history and assess their changing relationships to economic, political and socio-cultural changes.

- Understand the principal concepts, ideas, approaches and methods (and their limitations) that scholars use to understand the changing human-environment interactions.

- Raise interpretative questions and present arguments on the history of the Anthropocene using specialised secondary readings and primary sources.

- Critically think about the impact of environmental crises and disasters in shaping the modern world.

- Inform the analysis of current pressing issues such as the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contents

1. Environmental Humanities and Global History.
2. The Columbian and Neo-Columbian Exchanges.
3. The Anthropocene: Industrialised Landscapes and Lives.
4. Toxic Histories: The Climate Crisis.
5. Disasters: Hurricanes, Draughts and Earthquakes in World History.
6. Ecocides: Ecology, Extractivism and War.
7. The Long History of Global Pandemics: COVID-19 in Historical Context.
8. The History of Environmentalism, Animalism and Green Politics.
9. Lessons from the Past: Environmental Crises & Policy.

Teaching Methods

The course consists of lectures and seminars. Each lecture will be given by Prof. David Pretel. There will be time for discussion in each session, both through general debate and through seminar work in small groups. Each week specific questions related to the primary and secondary readings will be presented.

I expect students to read the core readings for each session, as well as additional readings that appeal to them and their specific interests. We will make extensive use of audio-visual material and media, including articles from newspapers.

Students should be able to think critically about the theoretical and interpretative issues raised by the readings. At the seminar, I expect that students show engagement with the readings and consideration for their classmates' points of view.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to shift to a semi-presential course. In that case, I will adopt a blended learning methodology that will combine traditional face-to-face classes with online instruction. A variety of dynamic and interactive digital resources will be used, including recorded lectures, a discussion forum, remote teamwork and online seminars and presentations. Additionally, students will have the option of online tutorials, feedback and evaluation.

Evaluation

30% Seminars: participation, group work, peer feedback, oral presentations and reading responses.

40% Written essay: design and write a final essay (4000 words, without references and appendixes).

30% Final exam: An open book take-home examination (or on-line exam).

Students who fail to obtain a final grade of 5,0 or above have the right to re-take the final exam if they meet the two following conditions: 1) having submitted the written essay, and 2) having delivered the final exam.

Students may also resubmit the written essay if they received a fail grade for it.

Bibliography and information resources

J. R. McNeill and Peter Engelke, The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene Since 1945, Harvard University Press, 2014.

Joachim Radkau, Nature and Power. A Global History of the Environment, Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Christian W. McMillen, Pandemics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2016.

Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future, Columbia University Press, 2014.

Mark Honigsbaum, The Pandemic Century: A History of Global Contagion from the Spanish Flu to Covid-19, Penguin, 2020.

Frank M. Snowden, Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present, Yale University Press, 2019.

Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900, Cambridge University Press, 1986.

William Ruddiman, Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate, Princeton University Press, 2005.

Richard Tucker, Insatiable Appetite: The United States and the Ecological Degradation of the Tropical World, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2000.

Información del Plan Docente

Presentación

The Global Environment and its Crises in Historical Perspective.

This course provides an introduction to the growing field of global environmental history. Focusing on contemporary debates, it aims to consider the historical roots of our current environmental crises, from climate change to pandemic diseases. The course provides a long-term historical and global overview of the main environmental transformations and challenges, with an admittedly strong focus on the recent past. Topics include the industrialization of the natural world, the rise of environmentalism, the discovery of global warming and the recurrence of ecological disasters. The course also discusses the concepts of Columbian exchange, ecological imperialism, biopiracy, ecocide and the Anthropocene.

Resultados del aprendizaje

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

- Identify the main environmental transformations in world history and assess their changing relationships to economic, political and socio-cultural changes.

- Understand the principal concepts, ideas, approaches and methods (and their limitations) that scholars use to understand the changing human-environment interactions.

- Raise interpretative questions and present arguments on the history of the Anthropocene using specialised secondary readings and primary sources.

- Critically think about the impact of environmental crises and disasters in shaping the modern world.

- Inform the analysis of current pressing issues such as the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contenidos

1. Environmental Humanities and Global History.
2. The Columbian and Neo-Columbian Exchanges.
3. The Anthropocene: Industrialised Landscapes and Lives.
4. Toxic Histories: The Climate Crisis.
5. Disasters: Hurricanes, Draughts and Earthquakes in World History.
6. Ecocides: Ecology, Extractivism and War.
7. The Long History of Global Pandemics: COVID-19 in Historical Context.
8. The History of Environmentalism, Animalism and Green Politics.
9. Lessons from the Past: Environmental Crises & Policy.

Metodología docente

The course consists of lectures and seminars. Each lecture will be given by Prof. David Pretel. There will be time for discussion in each session, both through general debate and through seminar work in small groups. Each week specific questions related to the primary and secondary readings will be presented.

I expect students to read the core readings for each session, as well as additional readings that appeal to them and their specific interests. We will make extensive use of audio-visual material and media, including articles from newspapers.

Students should be able to think critically about the theoretical and interpretative issues raised by the readings. At the seminar, I expect that students show engagement with the readings and consideration for their classmates' points of view.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to shift to a semi-presential course. In that case, I will adopt a blended learning methodology that will combine traditional face-to-face classes with online instruction. A variety of dynamic and interactive digital resources will be used, including recorded lectures, a discussion forum, remote teamwork and online seminars and presentations. Additionally, students will have the option of online tutorials, feedback and evaluation.

Evaluación

30% Seminars: participation, group work, peer feedback, oral presentations and reading responses.

40% Written essay: design and write a final essay (4000 words, without references and appendixes).

30% Final exam: An open book take-home examination (or on-line exam).

Students who fail to obtain a final grade of 5,0 or above have the right to re-take the final exam if they meet the two following conditions: 1) having submitted the written essay, and 2) having delivered the final exam.

Students may also resubmit the written essay if they received a fail grade for it.

Bibliografía y recursos de información

J. R. McNeill and Peter Engelke, The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene Since 1945, Harvard University Press, 2014.

Joachim Radkau, Nature and Power. A Global History of the Environment, Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Christian W. McMillen, Pandemics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2016.

Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future, Columbia University Press, 2014.

Mark Honigsbaum, The Pandemic Century: A History of Global Contagion from the Spanish Flu to Covid-19, Penguin, 2020.

Frank M. Snowden, Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present, Yale University Press, 2019.

Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900, Cambridge University Press, 1986.

William Ruddiman, Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate, Princeton University Press, 2005.

Richard Tucker, Insatiable Appetite: The United States and the Ecological Degradation of the Tropical World, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2000.