(Un-)natural Disasters: An Environmental History

Course goals

Course objectives:

1. Critical thinking: draw connections and comparisons between regions and time periods in attitudes and responses to natural disasters.

2.Critical thinking: describe conceptual and theoretical approaches to the study of natural disasters, and critiques of this concept.

3. Writing skills: develop a short paper that engages critically with the material assigned and discussed during the course

4. Research skills: conducting a limited research project into a specific case study using appropriate research methods (quantitative, qualitative, mixed)

5. Collaboration and teamwork: gain experience of collaborating with peers through research, discussing sources, and critiquing disaster narratives in media including fiction, film and tabletop games.

Learning objectives 1-3 will be assessed in the paper assessment. Learning objectives 4-5 will be assessed in the portfolio assessment.

Learning outcomes:

Upon successful completion of the course, you will:
 

• Have familiarity with a range of disaster case studies, and understanding of the connection between disasters and climate breakdown.
• Have the ability to explain and apply key concepts and theories surrounding risk, resilience, the Anthropocene, and agency in the disaster cycle.
• Have the capacity to analyse and debate the link between human activities (such as fossil fuel extraction and combustion) and natural disasters.
• Practice collaborating and cooperating with your peers,  develop a case study combining quantitative and qualitative methods
• Evaluate and critique a range of cultural responses to (un)natural disasters and climate breakdown, including board games. 

Content

Please note: this course overlaps in content with Ges-(Un)natural disasters - GE2V23001 (level 2). 
If you have previously completed Ges-(Un)natural disasters - GE2V23001 (level 2), it is not possible to also include Ges-(Un)natural disasters - GE3V25001 (level 3) in your examination programme. 

Emergency! Environmental histories of (un)natural disasters

What are natural disasters? How have occurrences like floods, fires, droughts, volcanoes and earthquakes been experienced, interpreted and understood by the societies that experienced them? What types of explanations have been offered, and how have these etiologies shaped societal and cultural responses to such events? What are the connections between disasters, climate breakdown and human activities like fossil fuel consumption? This course will explore how societies in the past have prepared for and responded to natural disasters. We will consider resourceful adaptations to local environmental and geographic conditions, the rise of scientific expertise, colonial knowledge production, and humanitarian responses to unforeseen tragedy.
Furnished with analytical provocations from interdisciplinary thinkers including Naomi Klein, James Scott, Rebecca Solnit, and Amartya Sen, we will consider case studies from different continents, and a range of historical periods, from ancient to contemporary. We will probe the extent to which it is still possible to talk of disasters as ‘natural.’ We will analyze a broad range of sources, literary, visual and material, from poetry and paintings to manga and maps, to interrogate the range of meanings ascribed to natural disasters, and the responses these have evoked. During the seminars, we will play a range of historical- and environmental-themed board games, which we will evaluate and critique through guided discussion. Assessment will take the form of a portfolio presenting a case study of a historical disaster (including both collaborative and individually assessed elements), and an essay.
 

Additional information

Please note: the time slot shown here is not yet final and may still be modified until the 3rd Wednesday in September.