Unit information: The Age of the Human in 2020/21

Unit name	The Age of the Human
Unit code	HIST30103
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Dudley
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

We’ve killed off the dodo, released unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and raised sea levels: welcome to the Anthropocene, the geological age in which humankind has permanently left a mark on the planet. This unit puts students at the forefront of environmental history scholarship to explore how the notion of the Anthropocene has gained traction as a definition of time that recognises the unprecedented Earth-altering impact of the human species. Students will engage with debates among scientists and humanities scholars over the concept, while also exploring how it has captured popular and scholarly imagination. This unit is, at its heart, deeply historical: understanding change through time, and interactions between nature and culture. But it is the history of an idea that is still being formed – and as such, there is a wealth of source materials, forums for debate and questions for students to engage with. The unit will use a broad range of resources, including digital tools, literary texts and audio-visual materials, and utilize ground-breaking museum exhibitions and online learning resources provided by the Deutsches Museum (Munich) and Smithsonian (Washington D.C.)

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful students will be able to:

1. Analyse historic and cultural trends in human-environment interactions
2. Interpret environmental history and environmental humanities approaches and methodologies
3. Critically evaluate the key historiographical debates surrounding the Anthropocene idea
4. Interpret primary sources and select pertinent evidence in order to illustrate specific and more general historical points
5. Present their research and judgements in written forms and styles appropriate to the discipline and to level H.

Teaching Information

Classes will involve a combination of class discussion, investigative activities, and practical activities. Students will be expected to engage with readings and participate on a weekly basis. This will be further supported with drop-in sessions and self-directed exercises with tutor and peer feedback.

Assessment Information

1 x 3500-word Essay (50%) [ILOs 1-5]; 1 x Timed Assessment (50%) [ILOs 1-5]

Reading and References

Libby Robin, Sverker Sörlin and Paul Warde (eds.), The Future of Nature: Documents of Global Change (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013)

Julia Adeney Thomas, 'History and Biology in the Anthropocene: Problems of Scale, Problems of Value', The American Historical Review 119:5 (December 2014), 1587-1607

Libby Robin and Will Steffen, ‘History for the Anthropocene’, History Compass 5:5 (2007), 1694-1719

John McNeill and Peter Engelke, The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene since 1945 (Harvard: Belknap Press, 2014)

Melanie Challenger, On Extinction: How We Became Estranged from Nature (Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 2012)