What can we learn from humanity’s long history and its relationship to the surrounding environment? How can an understanding of environmental history contribute in the practical work for a sustainable future?
This course investigates the interaction between humans and their environments over time, starting with human communities of hunter gatherers and then looking at the neolithic revolution, civilizations, colonialism, and industrialization. The environmental history of the 20th century with its drastic changes of both ecosystems and human conditions is discussed in more detail. By combining a broader, global perspective and specific cases from different geographical places through history, the course tries to deepen the understanding of underlying causes to the many problems and predicaments of our times. The course has two mandatory meetings in Uppsala: the first one was at the 15th of September and the second one is in December.
Don't forget the mandatory gathering at the 15th of December, 9:15-15:00, in CEMUS student library at Villavägen 16, Uppsala. See e-mail for more information!
Hej again,
We have found this interesting video on Climate Change and Water Conflicts which connects very well to the lecture by Florian Krampe next week:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/when_the_water_ends_africas_climate_conflicts/2331/
Although the video maybe oversimplifies a very complex conflict it is another good example of how global changes can have big impacts on local communities.
See you next week!
Ben and Heleen
PS. Next week we will meet in Blåsenhus again, room 12:004
Hej again,
The assignment description for 'Doc Week' is now posted above under 'Assignments.' Please have a look at the assignment and let us know if you have any questions. The deadline to submit the assignment (no worries, it is not a lot of work) is not until the 15th of October, but we thought some of you might like to work a head a bit.
Here are some suggestions where you could look for documentaries:
www.filmsforaction.org
www.ted.com
topdocumentaryfilms.com
www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate
And of course, there is something called YouTube.
Most important, have fun with this assignment and influence the content of the course!
Ben and Heleen
Don't forget the mandatory gathering at the 15th of December, 9:15-15:00, in CEMUS student library at Villavägen 16, Uppsala. See e-mail for more information.
Please let us know by e-mail if you can't attend the gathering.
Best regards,
Karin and Sara
Some of you have had trouble with accessing the two articles "Environmental Crises and The Metabolic Rift in World-Historical Perspective" and "Colonialism and Industrialization: A Critique of Lewis". Before we posted these links to the articles on the website we were told that everyone with access to Uppsala university student services would also be able to access the two websites containing the two articles. Some of you contacted us about not being able to do this and we couldn't figure out why but after talking to the university library we think we know why you can't access the pages. We are now told that you all have to login to your Uppsala university student account before opening the page containing the link. It does not work to try to login with the university user-name and password directly at the page containing the articles but if you login to your account at studentportalen.uu.se or login to your student e-mail account or to your account at the university library first and then click on the article page, you should be able to access the site and read the articles.
We really hope this works! If anyone still can't get access the articles, please let us know and we'll try to help you.
Sorry about the inconvenience! We missed informing everyone about this on beforehand.
Best regards
Karin and Sara