HH4006 THE GREEN EARTH: ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

The Green Earth covers some of the most important themes in environmental history which have informed academic scholarship during the last 20 to 30 years. The course begins by examining the impact of the environment on early human evolution and development of early complex societies in the world. It explores the recent proliferation of works on world history which argue that climate change (in the form of a period of warming around 12,000 years ago) led to the stimulation of human actions which had brought about early agriculture and settled complex societies. The bulk of the course focuses on human transformation and exploitation of the environment in various regions of the world as well in through different ways. The lectures are organized according to elements, starting with agriculture (-land?) and proceeding to water and fire. The subject of environmental history is closely linked not only with human history and continuous desire to harness energy, but also the subjects of biological exchange (germs and pathogens) and the impact of human actions on the environment including animals, particularly with reference to the extinction of species, deforestation, and the destruction of the earth`s greenery. The course examines how these human actions over several millennia, which have been most deliberate and strongest in the past 200 years, have lasting repercussions on the earth, particularly in the form of climate change. Current debates on climate change and strategies to save the environment will be covered at the end of the course.

Prerequisites Tree