BA Geography with International Study / Course details

A number of prominent earth (or geo-) scientists are claiming that humans are inadvertently altering the entire ‘Earth System’ (that is, not only the atmosphere but also the cryosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, the pedosphere and upper lithosphere). In this light, anthropogenic climate change is but the tip of the proverbial iceberg. ‘The Anthropocene’ is a new term intended to describe the new geological epoch we are supposedly entering. This module explores the scientific origins and status of the Anthropocene hypothesis, as well as its implications for societies worldwide. The hypothesis is profoundly geographical: it suggests that the human impact on the physical environment is both planetary in scale and, in significant respects, irreversible. It also suggests that a deep knowledge of biophysical processes and outcomes must, at the global scale, be combined with an equally deep understanding of how societies work in our diverse but deeply interconnected world. Whether such combined understanding will positively influence the decision of citizens, business and governments when it comes to human uses of the environment is an open question. So far, the pace and scale of human response to the Anthropocene challenge is very slow indeed.

- Explain the origins and content of the science underpinning the Anthropocene hypothesis and planetary boundaries concept
- Consider how scientific claims about planetary change influence the decisions of governments, businesses, and ordinary citizens
- Explore some of the technological implications of the Anthropocene hypothesis and PB concept
- Examine how the hypothesis and concept have been used by non-scientists seeking to shape public understanding of humanity and the Earth
- Consider the implications of the hypothesis and concept for geographical research
 

Introduction

Week 1 - Introduction: ‘Anthropogenic climate change is only the tip of the iceberg …’

Block 1 – The Science

Week 2 - Quaternary stratigraphy, Earth System Science and the Anthropocene: Understanding change in the global system. 
Week 3 - When did the Anthropocene start and what does it mean for management of earth systems?

Block 2 – The Science and Society

Week 4 - Exploring the social limits of expertise: Anthropocene scientists and public understanding.
Week 5 - Why might the implications of the Anthropocene be downplayed or ignored? 
Week 6 - Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet (2021) Screening

Block 3 - The Political and Technical Implications of Anthropocene Science

Week 7 - Big technology as solution or problem? Geoengineering and nuclear power
Week 8 - Political and economic inertia: Can governments respond collectively to the Anthropocene challenge?

Block 4: Considering the wider human implications of Anthropocene science: what socio-economic arrangements should we create?

Week 9 - Can there be a ‘good Anthropocene’?

Conclusion

Week 10 - Conclusion: Geography and the Anthropocene
 

The module is lecture-based. Many weeks the two-hour lecture will include class discussion and Q&A. Students will be expected to complete assigned readings between lectures and make detailed notes. A high level of attendance is expected and will help ensure that you possess basic knowledge on which to build for the final course assessment. Your learning will be supported by a Blackboard site including extended reading, supplementary written materials, and at times some other audio-visual resources. Feedback will be provided verbally within discussions in the lectures and individually during student consultation hours.

• Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the origins and content of Anthropocene science
• Explain why geoscientific knowledge is by itself insufficient to alter wider understandings of, or behaviour towards, the Earth
• Assess the merits and problems of ambitious technical solutions to the environmental problems of the Anthropocene
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of ‘alarmist’ and more positive ways of thinking about the implications of Anthropocene science
• Understand whether and how Geography can be the ‘Anthropocene discipline’ par excellence
 

• Closely read and interpretate advanced scientific publications
• Evaluate the significance of different kinds of evidence and argument
• Develop and communicate their own ideas based on a detailed analysis of various interdisciplinary sources
   

• Read, listen and note-take effectively 
• Explain complex ideas in an accessible manner
 

• Demonstrate critical thinking skills

(1) Formative Assessment Task: In-class past exam question exercise  
Length: 1 hour
Feedback: will be provided verbally in the session

(2) Assessment task:  End of semester, on campus, exam.
Students will be able to bring 2 sides of A4 notes into the exam to aid their responses.
The exam will contain two sections:
Short answer (3 x 200 words, 30%) and essay choice 1 of 6 (1,200 words, 70%)

Length:  2-hour exam

Weighting: 100%

Feedback:  Written feedback on exam scripts in Academic Advisor meetings 

• David Biello (2017) The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth’s Newest Age (New York: Scribner). 
• Marcia Bjornerud (2018) Timefulness: How Thinking like a Geologist Can Help Save the World (Princeton University Press).
• Castree, N (2014) The Anthropocene and geography I: The back story. Geography Compass, 8(7), pp.436-449.
• Castree, N (2014) Geography and the Anthropocene II: Current contributions. Geography Compass, 8(7), pp.450-463.
• Castree, N (2014) The Anthropocene and geography III: Future directions. Geography Compass, 8(7), pp.464-476.
• Cornell, S., and I.C. Prentice (eds.) 2012. Understanding the Earth System (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
• Erle Ellis (2018) Anthropocene: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: OUP). 
• Gibson, K., Rose, D.B. and Fincher, R., 2015. Manifesto for Living in the Anthropocene. Ney York: Punctum books.
• Lewis, S.L. and Maslin, M.A., 2015. Defining the anthropocene. Nature, 519(7542), pp.171-180.
• Lorimer, J., 2017. The Anthropo-scene: A guide for the perplexed. Social Studies of Science, 47(1), pp.117-142
• McNeill, J. R. & Engelke, P. (2014) The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene Since 1945 (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press).
• Oliver Morton (2016) The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World (London: Granta Books).
• Will Steffen et al. (2004) Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under Pressure (Berlin: Springer) Available to read and save as a PDF at: http://www.igbp.net/publications/igbpbookseries/igbpbookseries/globalchangeandtheearthsystem2004.5.1b8ae20512db692f2a680007462.html
• Steffen, W., Grinevald, J., Crutzen, P. and McNeill, J., 2011. The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 369(1938), pp.842-867.
• Ziegler, S.S. (2019). The Anthropocene in Geography. Geographical Review, 109(2), pp.271-280.