Course content

Our contemporary moment is marked by an increasing awareness of serious and rapid changes in living conditions on Earth. This course will address the social, cultural, and political issues associated with our contemporary moment, which researchers suggest could be a new geological era: the Anthropocene. If we accept that human activity affects the rhythms of geological phenomena, we in the humanities must also ask how we can make sense of our place in the world today. What is nature? What is human? How should we think about the human in the world? Do humans have obligations to nature and the planet? Questions like these form the backdrop of this course that addresses humanities perspectives on topics related to climate, environment, and nature.

This provides further basis for discussing how the term 'Anthropocene' contributes to new questions, new issues, and new ways of exploring things in the humanities. This is done through thematic organized project work.

Learning outcome

Students who complete this course will have knowledge of:
- today's debates about environmental, social, aesthetic, and ethical topics and controversies.
- the term Anthropocene, its origination and important debates related to the term.
- how the concept of the Anthropocene has been the starting point for new directions in humanities research, with particular focus on popular culture, natural philosophy, technology studies, studies of politics and democracy, posthumanism, and animal studies.
- the relevance of the concept of the Anthropocene outside the university, in daily life and in society as a whole.

Skills
Students who complete this course will have the skills to:
- interpret and debate historical, political, social and cultural aspects of nature and environmental issues.
- track the path of Anthropocene through various disciplines and areas of study within the humanities.
- formulate an argument on a given topic and answer it through a project.

General competence
Students who complete this subject have general competence in
- cooperative learning
- project work

Learning methods and activities

The first six weeks of teaching are lecture-based. Then six weeks of seminar training follow, where students work on a project in interdisciplinary groups. The project is presented at the end of the course.

Mandatory activities:
Project sketch / project plan: Approved / Not approved
Weekly logs in project period: Approved / Not approved
Presentation of project: Approved / Not approved

All mandatory activities are conducted in groups. All mandatory activities must be approved in order for the student to pass the exam.

Compulsory assignments

• Project outline/project plan
• Weekly logs during the project period
• Presentation of the project