How can history help us understand the environmental problems we face today? What has shaped the relationships between people and environments in the past?
This course offers an introduction to global environmental history on a planetary scale, focusing on the period since 1945. In this course, we examine the profound transformation of the relationship between humans and the environment that has unfolded exponentially since 1945, and how societies have responded to these extraordinary environmental changes. Through a series of case studies and stories we will examine how the human footprint has grown, and its socioeconomic, political, and ecological impacts. This course is organised both chronologically and thematically, allowing students to explore agricultural, industrial and technological revolutions; energy and technology; development and decolonisation; urbanisation; conservation and environmentalism; and anthropogenic climate change.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- demonstrate an understanding of the field of global environmental history, including key themes and debates;
- formulate sound arguments about how human actions have been shaped by their historical contexts (social, political, economic, cultural and environmental);
- articulate the processes leading to environmental change in a range of places since 1945;
- communicate an awareness of the ways that historically determined ideas about the environment inform current environmental policies and debates; and
- develop and demonstrate oral and written skills in constructing evidence-based arguments using a variety of primary and secondary sources.
Indicative Assessment
- Primary source museum report (1000 words) (20) [LO 2,3]
- Research essay (2000 words) (40) [LO 1,2]
- Tutorial participation including source presentation (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Final open-book examination ( 2 hours) (30) [LO 4,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorial and tutorial-like activities; and
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
J.R. McNeill & Peter Engelke, The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene since 1945, Harvard University Press, 2014. [Online-ANU]
Preliminary Reading
· Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, Fawcett, 1962. [ANU]
· Ramachandra Guha and Joan Martinez Alier (eds), Varieties of Environmentalism: essays north and south, Earthscan, 1997. [ANU]
· Neil M. Maher, Apollo in the Age of Aquarius, Harvard University Press, 2019.
· J.R. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun: an environmental history of the twentieth-century world, Norton, 2000. [ANU]
· Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, 2011. [ANU]
· Libby Robin, Paul Warde and Sverker Soerlin (eds), Future of Nature, Yale University Press, 2013. [ANU]
· Vasant Saberwal and Mahesh Rangarajan (eds), Battles over Nature: Science and the Politics of Conservation, Permanent Black, 2003. [ANU]
· Perrin Selcer, The Postwar Origins of the Global Environment: How the United Nations Built Spaceship Earth, Columbia University Press, 2018. [ANU]
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9154 | 21 Jul 2025 | 28 Jul 2025 | 31 Aug 2025 | 24 Oct 2025 | In Person | N/A |