UNSW Sydney
- Start Date: 16 Jan, 2017
- 5 weeks
- Study Content: Videos
Learn how the new Environmental Humanities field is shaping how we understand environmental issues, with this free online course.
Course Fee: Free
Certificate Cost: See Fees and Eligibility
Introduction
Introduction Video
Course Description
This course is made available through the eLearnAfrica and FutureLearn partnership.
In Environmental Humanities: Remaking Nature, you’ll get a broad overview of an emerging area of interdisciplinary research that reframes contemporary environmental challenges using approaches from philosophy, literature, language, history, anthropology, cultural studies and the arts.
You’ll see examples of active research in this field, and discover why humanities research is vital to understanding and confronting contemporary environmental challenges, such as climate change and global biodiversity loss.
“Remake” your ideas about nature
The Environmental Humanities places scientific knowledge in dialogue with the key concerns of the humanities: how people think, feel, protest, vote and create. Our main aim in this course is to consider and create new narratives about how humans and the environment relate to one another.
We’ll begin this course by identifying historical ways of thinking about the environment. Through a range of examples, we’ll illustrate how “nature” is a human invention. We’ll then look at how the role of humans has been conceptualised in opposition to notions of nature, and assert that we were never at the centre, nor in control of the environment.
Having questioned these common “modernist” conceptions about nature, we’ll examine some of the ways in which the natural world is being “remade,” both discursively (in the way we write, speak and think about it) and materially (for instance, in the alteration of DNA and the wholesale transformation of ecosystems).
Finally, we’ll ask you to join us in creating new narratives about nature that demonstrate greater care and concern.
Explore research methods and real-world environmental concerns
Leading experts from the Environmental Humanities programme at UNSW Australia’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences will introduce you to their research in this innovative and interdisciplinary field.
By the end of this course you will:
- understand why the Environmental Humanities is critical to environmental problem-solving in this age of global environmental crisis;
- have a clear idea of a range of research methods in the Environmental Humanities;
- be aware of opportunities and challenges in this area, and how these relate to global environmental concerns;
- and develop experience in using storytelling to envision new environmental paradigms and ways forward.
This course is suitable for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates or researchers with a professional interest in Environmental Humanities or related disciplines. It is also suitable for learners around the globe who are interested in influencing environmental change and understanding how the humanities can aid environmental understanding and problem-solving.
Certificate cost may vary. You will be redirected to the host page for cost and payment options.
UNSW Sydney
This university is part of the partnership between eLearnAfrica and FutureLearn.
This institution is available on eLearnAfrica through partnership with FutureLearn.
COLLABORATION POLICY
By enrolling in a course on or through eLearnAfrica, you are joining a special worldwide community of learners. The aspiration of eLearnAfrica is to provide anyone with an internet connection access to courses from the best universities and institutions in the world and to provide our learners the best educational experience internet technology enables. You are a part of the community that will help eLearnAfrica achieve this goal. eLearnAfrica depends upon your motivation to learn the material and to do so with honesty and academic integrity. In order to participate in eLearnAfrica, you must agree to the Honor Code below and any additional terms specific to a class.
ELEARNAFRICA HONOR CODE PLEDGE
By enrolling in a course, program, or degree hosted on the eLearnAfrica App or Site, I agree that I will:
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Complete all tests and assignments on my own, unless collaboration on an assignment is explicitly permitted.
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Maintain only one user account and not let anyone else use my username and/or password.
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Not engage in any activity that would dishonestly improve my results, or improve or hurt the results of others.
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Not post answers to problems that are being used to assess student performance.
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Abide by any and all requirements of the eLearnAfrica Participants as may regard the expectations of civil or academic behavior or of community standards.
VIOLATIONS
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Receiving a zero or no credit for an assignment;
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Having any certificate earned in the course withheld or revoked;
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Being unenrolled from a course, learning program or degree program; or
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Termination of your use of the App and/or Site.
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Additional actions may be taken at the sole discretion of eLearnAfrica and eLearnAfrica course providers.
No refunds will be issued in the case of any corrective action for such violations.
Honor code violations will be determined at the sole discretion of eLearnAfrica, the Partners, or Members. You will be notified if a determination has been made that you have violated this honor code and you will be informed of the corresponding action to be taken as a result of the violation.
CHANGING THE HONOR CODE
Please note that we review and may make changes to this Honor Code from time to time. Any changes to this Honor Code will be effective immediately upon posting on this page, with an updated effective date. By accessing the App and/or Site after any changes have been made, you signify your agreement on a prospective basis to the modified Honor Code and any changes contained therein. Be sure to return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of this Honor Code.
Effective Date: September 22, 2016