Last modified: 25 Sep 2019 09:58
You will be trained in broad environmental thinking required to understand the complex nature of contemporary environmental problems. The main purpose of the course is to work towards a sufficiently deep understanding of society's relationship with the environment to appraise and start to address so-called wicked (i.e. impossible to fully comprehend, insoluble and chaotic) problems.
The course will follow a textbook to allow immersion in the author's ways of thinking. During the first three weeks, key aspects of human-environment relationships will be developed through lectures and subsequent discussion. During the last two weeks, students will be engaged in the co-production of knowledge by preparing and presenting worked out case studies themselves as starting point for debate on focal 'objects of concern (e.g. the return of the wolf, uranium in society, e-waste).
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
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| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
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In this course students develop an understanding of the diverse and complex relationships Western societies hold with their environment. The first three weeks of teaching concerns unfolding topics succinctly covered by the textbook Environment and Society (Robbins, Hintz and Moore, second edition 2014), thereby furthering their understanding and critical thinking around the key 'political ecology' dimension Population and Scarcity, Markets and Commodities, Institutions, Environmental Ethics, Risks and Hazards, Political Economy and Social Construction of Nature. During the last two weeks of teaching concerns lectures created and presented by students themselves on chosen 'Objects of Concern'. Nine of those are covered by the textbook so that all students will be able to familiarise themselves with each of them, and those students that selected a Concern working this up to provide the deeper and richer levels of understanding and generating debate around those.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
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| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Each student will receive individual feedback and a mark for each task. Feedback will be provided as written comments on the essays and presentations. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
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| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 70 | |
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| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will receive individual feedback on each assessment through MyAberdeen. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
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| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 10 | |
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| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
During presentations and discussions students will receive informal, verbal feedback. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
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There are no assessments for this course.
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
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