Unit name | Geographies of the Anthropocene |
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Unit code | GEOG30012 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. Mayhew |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites. Students will find completion of More-than-Human Geographies GEOG-20001 useful. |
Co-requisites |
Available to year-three Geography and year- four Geography with Study Aboard/Continental Europe students only. |
School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Science |
We live on a planet profoundly altered by human activities. From mass extinction, to the transformation of land for agriculture, to climate change and the extraction of fossil fuels, to rising inequality, the Anthropocene names our current geological epoch – the age of humans. This course will introduce the concept of the Anthropocene, outlining its cultural and historical origins, and current debates over its provenance and implications. The bulk of the course is organised around key problematics of the Anthropocene: energy, nature, cities, imagination. Each session is split between critical analysis and studies of ethical or political intervention. Indicative topics include: fossil fuels and geopower; fracking and activist energy politics; rewilding and extinction; green urbanism; gardening in ruins; apocalypse; visions of human life beyond Earth. Sessions are split between lectures and more interactive activities.
Unit aims:
Classes consist of 10x2 hour sessions, each comprising a mix of lecture, small-group discussion and workshop activities.
40% one 2500 word essay from a choice of four set questions. Due Week 18.
60% two hour written examination.
Required, further and advanced readings will be set for each week. There is no course textbook. The following two recent special issues in geography journals provide useful insights into the course:
Futures: Imagining Socioecological Transformation, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Volume 105, Issue 2, 239-436, 2015.
Geographies of the Anthropocene, Geographical Research, Volume 53, Issue 3, 231-320, 2015.