| Unit name | Colonizing Nature (Level H Lecture Response Unit) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HIST30072 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Dan Haines |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The natural environment was at the heart of Europe’s modern imperial project. European diseases, animals and plants swept over the New World, while animal life increasingly occupied European imaginations. Technology became one of the key ‘tools of Empire’ to establish rule and to intervene in existing environments as steamboats, railways, dams and irrigation systems changed global environments in significant ways. Meanwhile, mountainous landscapes and malarial swamps imposed limits on European expansion.
This unit examines the dramatic impact that colonisation had on environments in Asia, Africa and the Americas, and vice versa. It takes a comparative approach: the empires we study might include the German, American, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese empires, as well as the British. Themes to be discussed may include: ideologies of environmental destruction and capitalist exploitation of natural resources; conflict with indigenous peoples over uses of nature; the cultural imagery of empire and nature; the rise of conservation movements; and shifting ideas about what it meant to be human through encounters with indigenous peoples.
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to demonstrate:
(1) a broad understanding of the relationship between imperialism, technology, and the natural environment;
(2) the ability to analyse and generalise how humans, nature, and technology have interacted in diverse geographical and temporal settings;
(3) the ability to select pertinent evidence/data in order to illustrate/demonstrate more general issues and arguments;
(4) the ability to identify a particular academic interpretation, evaluate it critically, and form an individual viewpoint.
One 2 hour interactive lecture per week.
3,000 word essay (50%); 2 hour exam (50%). Both will assess ILOs 1-4.
Arnold, David, The Problem of Nature: Environment, Culture, and European Expansion (1996)
Adas, Michael, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance (1989)
Beinart, William and Lottie Hughes, Environment and Empire (2007)
Crosby, Alfred, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900 (1986)
Mitchell, Timothy, Rule of Experts: Egypt-Techno-Politics, Modernity (2002)
Ritvo, Harriet, The Animal Estate: The English and other Creatures in the Victorian Age (1989)
