People and Planet: Humanities and Ecological Justice

The world is facing a number of inter-related crises from climate change, conflict, inequalities and threats to food security, pandemic disease, pollution, and habitat loss. This course will examine global crises from the perspective of broad Humanities disciplines to explore what we can learn by understanding their human and cultural context.

You will:

• Explore the implicit relationships between the global crises of today and their historical roots in colonialism, globalisation and industrialisation
• Examine how Western industrialisation fuelled the rise of empire and unsustainable extraction
• Explore how global crises are evident at local level and how cultural organisations have an important role to play in educating people about the effects of climate change and global inequalities
• Explore alternative futures through an examination of community-based responses to living sustainably.
• Visit places that highlight the themes of the course – heritage organisations, historical landscapes, eco communities.

After studying on this course, you should be able to:

• Demonstrate how global crises are evident in local communities and how they affect human cultures
• Formulate future-facing solutions to local and global crises
• Convey the past, present and future of global crises through visual media
• Use visual images and short-form text to communicate with diverse audiences
• Engage in peer review of visual communication.

This course is ideal if you want to understand more about the humanities’ distinct approaches to contemporary sustainability issues and the central role that culture plays as both a driver and potential solution to numerous global crises.

Teaching on this course will be delivered by lectures and project briefings, workshops, verbal and visual presentations and off-campus trips. There will also be directed reading before and during the course.

Assessment will be focused on generating visual media to promote engagement with the United Nations sustainable development goals.