University of New South Wales is offering open free online course on Environmental Humanities to showcase just a small fraction of the great offerings at the University. This course is intended for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates or researchers with a professional interest in Environmental Humanities or related disciplines.

The overall objective of this free online course is to provide a broad overview of an emerging area of interdisciplinary research that reframes contemporary environmental challenges using approaches from philosophy, literature, language, history, anthropology, cultural studies and the arts.The course starts on January 16, 2017.

Course At A Glance

Length: 6 weeks
Effort: 3 hours/week
Subject: Environmental Humanities
Institution: University of New South Wales & FutureLearn
Languages: English
Price: Free
Certificate Available: Yes
Session: Course starts on January 16, 2017

Providers Details

University of New South Wales and FutureLearn are providing this free online course on English language. UNSW is rated 5 Stars+ for excellence by QS World University rankings, and was ranked 48th in the world in the 2014-2015 ratings. Partnerships with both local and global communities allow UNSW to share knowledge, debate and research outcomes. UNSW is a member of the distinguished Group of Eight (Go8) universities in Australia, and is a member of prestigious university consortia such as Universitas21, of the Global Alliance of Technological Universities, and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

FutureLearn offers a diverse selection of courses from leading universities and cultural institutions from around the world. These are delivered one step at a time, and are accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop, so you can fit learning around your life.

About This Course

In Environmental Humanities: Remaking Nature, you’ll get a broad overview of an emerging area of interdisciplinary research that reframes contemporary environmental challenges using approaches from philosophy, literature, language, history, anthropology, cultural studies and the arts.

You’ll see examples of active research in this field, and discover why humanities research is vital to understanding and confronting contemporary environmental challenges, such as climate change and global biodiversity loss. The Environmental Humanities places scientific knowledge in dialogue with the key concerns of the humanities: how people think, feel, protest, vote and create. University’s main aim in this course is to consider and create new narratives about how humans and the environment relate to one another.

Why Take This Course?

This is a free online course. The course helps to explore research methods and real-world environmental concerns. Leading experts from the Environmental Humanities programme at UNSW Australia’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences will introduce you to their research in this innovative and interdisciplinary field.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this free online course you will:
-understand why the Environmental Humanities is critical to environmental problem-solving in this age of global environmental crisis;
-have a clear idea of a range of research methods in the Environmental Humanities;
-be aware of opportunities and challenges in this area, and how these relate to global environmental concerns;
-and develop experience in using storytelling to envision new environmental paradigms and ways forward.

Course Format

The course will begin this course by identifying historical ways of thinking about the environment. Through a range of examples, it illustrate how “nature” is a human invention. The MOOC then look at how the role of humans has been conceptualised in opposition to notions of nature, and assert that we were never at the centre, nor in control of the environment.

Having questioned these common “modernist” conceptions about nature, we’ll examine some of the ways in which the natural world is being “remade,” both discursively (in the way we write, speak and think about it) and materially (for instance, in the alteration of DNA and the wholesale transformation of ecosystems).

Finally, the university ask you to join us in creating new narratives about nature that demonstrate greater care and concern.

Instructors

Stephen Muecke
Convenors of “Remaking Nature”, and have expertise in Indigenous Australia as well as the Environmental Humanities.
University Of New In Sydney

Eben Kirksey
Eben Kirksey has contributed to theoretical conversations in the social sciences, biology, the humanities, and the arts.

Judy Motion
Professor of Communication in the Environmental Humanities group
UNSW, Australia

Matthew Kearnes
Australian Research Council Future Fellow
Environmental Humanities Programme at UNSW Australia

Paul Munro
Lecturer in Environmental Humanities
University of New South Wales

Susanne Pratt
Artist, techno-scientific muser, and researcher of lethal comforts
UNSW Australia

-Thom van Dooren
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Humanities
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia

Requirements

This free online course is suitable for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates or researchers with a professional interest in Environmental Humanities or related disciplines. It is also suitable for learners around the globe who are interested in influencing environmental change and understanding how the humanities can aid environmental understanding and problem-solving.

Course URL: http://fundingforstudy.com/2016/12/04/978/