HIS10500 Global Environmental History

Academic Year 2024/2025

Humanity is causing and facing its most significant environmental crisis, characterized by global climate change and pollution, the multiplication and intensification of extreme weather events, and unprecedented deforestation and soil erosion. This environmental crisis has led to the rise of environmentalist movements and institutions, growing environmental awareness, environmental and climate commitments, discourses on the energy transition, the development of alternative energies, ecological and carbon compensation mechanisms, but also to climate denialism and anti-environmentalism. But is it really “human nature” and humanity as an undifferentiated whole that are causing and facing the current environmental crisis? Are environmental awareness, “energy transitions”, alternative energies, and ecological compensation mechanisms that recent historically, and if not, why have they not prevented global warming? Have environmentalisms and anti-environmentalisms only been about the truth, devoid of power relations? This course examines such issues in a critical historical perspective, that of environmental history.
This module is the autumn trimester core for the Single Subject History pathway. It is taught as a weekly two-hour workshop, which combines short lectures with student-led discussion and presentations. Through the reading, presentation, and discussion of environmental history texts, we will investigate collectively the historical roots of climate change and of global environmental inequalities, the past and present of environmental consciousness, “energy transitions,” alternative energies, and ecological compensation mechanisms, and the history of environmentalism and anti-environmentalism, climate denialism, and geoengineering. This will allow us to improve our knowledge and reflexivity about the past, present and future of the current environmental crisis.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module students should have acquired:
- An understanding of the scholarly literature and debates in environmental history.
- A reflexivity about the past, present and future of the current environmental crisis.
- A capacity to read, analyze critically, present and discuss major texts in environmental history.
- A specialized knowledge of a particular topic in environmental history.

Indicative Module Content:

This module will address such topics as:
- Humanity, technology, or capitalism? The historical roots of climate change
- From green imperialism to unequal ecological exchanges: an environmental history of globalization
- Environmental inequalities in a historical perspective: race, class, gender
- Energy transition? Myths and realities of energy history
- Green capitalism? A history of ecological compensation mechanisms
- The joyful apocalypse: a history of climate and environmental consciousness
- White man’s burden? A history of (neo)colonial environmentalism
- Grassroots environmentalism: a history of environmental justice movements
- Merchants of doubts and of hate: a history of climate denialism and anti-environmentalism
- Manipulating the sky: geoengineering in a longue durée perspective

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

20
Specified Learning Activities

100
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Total

220
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module consists of small group teaching through a weekly two hour seminar. The seminar is taught workshop-style, allowing students opportunity to initiate and lead discussion, to test out ideas in conversation, and to work on elements of their assessed assignments at allotted moments in class as the trimester progresses. Active task-based learning and critical reading skills are promoted using both secondary and primary sources. Key research, writing and citation skills are incorporated into seminar work and are assessed through the assignments. A particular focus is on different registers of historical writing, with classes incorporating time for free-writing exercises and the mid-term assessment asking students to try three different types of written task, which include writing from direct experience of landscape. Autonomous learning is nurtured through required preparatory reading each week, and the written assignments. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Participation in Learning Activities: Contribution to the class discussion, and notably critical discussion of the mandatory reading n/a Graded No

20

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on the source portfolio and essay assignment is given in one-to-one meetings and via brightspace. Informal feedback on class contributions will be given on a rolling basis during the seminar.