MA Humanitarianism and Conflict Response / Course details

That climate and ecological crises are also cultural and social crises has been argued by scholars working in an emergent interdisciplinary field known as the ‘Environmental Humanities’ (EH).  EH ‘brings the insights and approaches of the humanities - centering on questions of meaning, value, and ethics - to bear on some of the most pressing challenges of our time’ (Gorman, et al, 2019). Taught by academics from across the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures in collaboration with colleagues from Manchester Museum, this course will introduce students to some of the central questions and concepts of EH.
Students will be invited to think about ‘critical ecologies’ in two, interrelated ways: (1) As addressing climate and ecological crises with the tools offered by disciplinary expertise; and (2) As requiring us to think beyond such disciplinary perspectives, as we also become aware of the historical forces that shaped them. Indigenous ways of knowing, relating and being in the world is one approach students will be introduced to in order to do this. This will allow students to begin to develop informed, diverse ways of thinking about the complex, diverse human and multispecies relations that are at stake in the histories and futurities of climate crisis.
 

The unit aims to:

- introduce students to some of the key texts and concepts from Environmental Humanities;
- introduce students to diverse source materials (different media, genre, objects) as we discuss key concepts
- introduce students to different aspects of climate crisis;
-  introduce students to questions of social justice in relation to climate crisis;
- introduce students to aspects and challenges of interspecies relations;
- engage with objects (from the Manchester Museum collection) and physical environments (at locations such as the Firs within the city);
- develop skills of critical thought, speech, and writing in relation to climate crisis;
- develop teamwork skills (through group discussion and work on field trips);
- develop flexible and creative thinking in response to the interdisciplinary ethos of EH and demands of environmental crisis
 

This unit allows students to:
- Gain experience in project development and using their academic skills (research, analysis, argumentation) in an authentic assessment task, the digital visual display
- Exercise independent thinking and research skills
- Gain experience of working with the collections of heritage sites
- Improved environmental ‘literacy’ via engagement with and knowledge of debates relating to the reality of climate change and climate justice
 

In seminars students will be introduced to a range of key methodologies in environmental humanities, drawing on the expertise of staff across the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. The syllabus will be enhanced by opportunities to engage with the collections of the Manchester Museum. Indicative topics include sessions on:
1. Storying
2. Anthropocene
3. Wildness and Rewilding
4. Multispecies
5. Ecological Imaginaries
6. Indigeneity.
7. Naming
8. Kin:
9. Environmental Populism
10. Living Collections
 

This course will be taught via weekly seminars. Students will participate in small-group work with objects at the Manchester Museum at various points in the semester. Students will participate in class discussions on key course themes and concepts. The virtual learning environment will be used to support students’ weekly preparations and point towards further readings and case studies.

ENHANCEMENT OF DIGITAL LITERACY:

Use of VLE in weekly teaching preparation
Use of databases, library resources, online museum collections, and digital resources for research
Use of software (e.g. Adobe Express) for the creation of a digital display of objects 
 

- Demonstrate familiarity with a range of concepts and critical paradigms central to EH;
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of some of the pressing issues arising from climate crisis;
- Engage with a range of discourses, objects and locations through the lens of theories and concepts introduced on the course;
- Understand and apply some of the critical tools from EH to other contexts (academic or otherwise).
 

- Reflect critically on different social and political histories and practices;
- Develop and articulate a reasoned argument for a particular point of view about the concepts covered on the course;
- Identify and outline key problems and issues related to the environmental humanities
 

- Plan and execute independent research on objects from the Manchester Museum collection;
- Use library, electronic, and online resources pertaining to the course;
- Clearly communicate key concepts to different audiences.
 

- Retrieving sifting, organising, synthesising and critically evaluating material from a range of different sources, including library, electronic, and online resources;
- Producing written work using appropriate language for both academic and public audiences;
- Develop critical and creative independence in the conceptualisation, research and writing of a research project;
- Develop the ability to improve one’s own learning through critical reflection, discussion and independent study.
 

Essay workshop seminar (formative): Oral feedback during the seminar

Visual display of three curated objects related to a connected concept: Written feedback via Turnitin 

Essay: Written feedback via Turnitin 

 

J .Andrew Hubbell and John C. Ryan, Introduction to the Environmental Humanities (2021)
Brendan Coolsaet, Environmental Justice: Key Issues (2021)
Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016)
Donna J. Haraway, When Species Meet (2008)
Jeffrey T. Nealon, Plant Theory: Biopower and Vegetable Life (2016)
Deborah Bird Rose, et al, Manifesto for Living in the Anthropocene (2015)
Deborah Bird Rose, Reports from a Wild Country: Ethics for Decolonisation (2004)
Matthew Schneider-Myerson, et al, An Ecotopian Lexicon  (2019)
Vandana Shiva, The Vandana Shiva Reader (2015)