Unit name | Environment and History |
---|---|
Unit code | HISTM0078 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Adrian Howkins |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
N |
Co-requisites |
N |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
What is Environmental History? When and why did the field emerge? How has it changed over time? In what ways is it practiced differently in different parts of the world and by historians of different time periods? These are some of the central questions that will be addressed in this unit on the historiography of environmental history. It will pay particular attention to debates that have taken place among environmental historians and will consider some of the different methods and approaches that have been used. The unit also addresses questions about the relationship of environmental history to other areas of historical research and to other academic fields, thinking about the challenges of collaborative research. Through extensive reading and seminar discussions the unit will provide a strong grounding in the field of environmental history and demonstrate the numerous opportunities that exist for bringing ‘the environment’ into our understanding of change over time.
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including group seminar-style discussion and self-directed exercises.
One 5000-word essay (100%). [ILOs 1-5].
Ramachandra Guha, The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalaya (1989)
John F Richards, The Unending Frontier 'An' Environmental History of the Early Modern World (2006)
Diana Davis, Resurrecting the Granary of Rome: Environmental History and French Colonial Expansion in North Africa (2007)
Dorothea Branz (ed.), Beastly natures: animals, humans and the study of history (2010)
Emily Wakild, Revolutionary Parks': Conservation, Social Justice and Mexico’s National Parks, 1910-1940 (2011) Andrew Isenberg (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Environmental History (2014)