Introduction to Environmental Studies

This course introduced participants to the vibrant and growing field of environmental studies. It explored key questions in the field and provided an interdisciplinary perspective on a range of contemporary environmental problems. The goal of this course was to encourage participants to think critically about competing ideas, narratives and claims about the environment. Texts covered a range of areas from environmental history, political ecology, environmental anthropology and ethics, conservation biology, eco-criticism and science and technology studies.

Students were given the unique opportunity to interact with exclusively invited international scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds. Together, we discussed contemporary topics such as the Anthropocene, climate change, extinction of species, neoliberal conservation, environmental justice, the concept of wilderness, global agricultures and their alternatives, queer ecologies, and possible environmental futures. Diverse background information, literature and access to online resources were given on the course's accompanying website.

The seminar featured a number of special guests such as:

Geographer Jamie Lorimer (University of Oxford)

Science and Technologies Studies scholar Filippo Bertoni (Aarhus University)

Sociologist Bron Szerszinski (Lancaster University)

Film maker Ella von der Haide

and Anthropologist Eben Kirksey (Princeton University and UNSW Australia)