Environmental studies provides training in the interdisciplinary tools needed to investigate society’s relationships to the environment and critically develop responses to pressing challenges of our time. The environment is a major discourse and force in society. The causes and effects of ecological change are woven through social institutions, human cultures, and economic systems. Environmental change is a continuity for all living things dependent on the vital energies and assets of the biosphere. And yet, human and non-human social agents have vastly different responsibilities for environmental harms and the regulation of resource use. The changing structures of environmental inequalities and global risks are an essential topic of social scientific study, especially in an age of climate transformation. Students in this major will explore the variety of responses and experiences of environmental change over time and place. Students undertaking the major will be taught about environmental matters from a range of disciplines and perspectives. Core units in sociology, history, and geography guide methodological training and progression through the major. Students will be provided with the inter- and trans-disciplinary knowledge and research skills necessary for studying the relationships between social and environmental change, with selection of a range of units from across anthropology, area studies, indigenous studies, environmental science, and policy studies.
Learning Outcomes
- understand the dynamic relationships between social and environmental systems, processes and change;
- critically assess the impact and implications of social practices on the natural environment, and the effect of the natural environment on social practices, especially as these relate to commercial processes of natural resource production and consumption, governance and social inequalities more broadly;
- apply interdisciplinary approaches to address complex environmental challenges in a variety of contexts (e.g. climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainability in economic development, rurality and regional planning, land care, public participation, wildlife conservation and cultural heritage);
- gather and analyse relevant social scientific and ecological data, as well as non-western perspectives, for creating adaptive and holistic responses to environmental issues; and
- apply a range of conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches in conducting environmental research and formulating environmental policy strategies.
Relevant Degrees
Requirements
The Environmental Studies Major requires the completion of 48 units, which must include:
A maximum of 12 units of 1000-level courses
A minimum of 18 units of 3000-level courses
The 48 units must include:
18 units from the completion of the following courses:
ENVS1001 Environment and Society: Geography of Sustainability (6 units)
HIST2211 Global Environmental History Since 1945 (6 units)
SOCY2022 Environmental Sociology (6 units)
6 units from the completion of a coursesfrom the following list:
ANTH1002 Culture and Human Diversity: Introducing Anthropology (6 units)
ECHI1006 The Australian Economy: Past and Present (6 units)
ENVS1004 Australia's Environment (6 units)
SOCY1002 Self and Society (6 units)
6 units from the completion of courses on the following list:
ANTH2005 Traditional Australian Indigenous Cultures, Societies and Environment (6 units)
ANTH2132 Food for Thought: Anthropological Theories of Food and Eating (6 units)
ARCH2041 Introduction to Environmental Archaeology (6 units)
ARTV2921 Environment Studio: Field Based Research and Studio Practice in Visual Arts (6 units)
ASIA2093 Natural Resource Conflicts in Asia and the Pacific (6 units)
BIAN2064 Anthropology of Environmental Disasters (6 units)
DEMO2001 Understanding Population Change (6 units)
ENVS2001 Biodiversity Science: Wildlife, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology (6 units)
ENVS2005 Island Sustainable Development: Fiji Field School (6-12 units)
ENVS2007 Economics for the Environment (6 units)
ENVS2011 Human Ecology (6 units)
ENVS2015 GIS and Spatial Analysis (6 units)
ENVS2018 Environmental Science Field School (6 units)
INDG2001 Indigenous Cultural and Natural Resource Management (6 units)
PASI3013 Environment and Development in the Pacific (6 units)
PHIL2126 Science in Society: Ethics, Public Policy and Scientific Practice (6 units)
SOCY2035 Cities and Urban Transformation (6 units)
18 units from completion of courses on the following list:
ANIP3003 Australian National Internships Program A (6 units) **
DEMO3001 Population Policy Case Studies (6 units)
ENVS3004 Land and Catchment Management (6 units)
ENVS3005 Water Management (6 units)
ENVS3007 Participatory Resource Management: Working with Communities and Stakeholders (6 units)
ENVS3013 Climate Change: Past, Present and Future (6 units)
ENVS3015 Essentials of Environmental Law (6 units)
ENVS3028 Environmental Policy (6 units)
ENVS3033 International Environmental Policy (6 units)
INDG3001 First Nations Peoples, the State and Public Policy in Australia (6 units)
SOCY3001 Research Internship (6 units) **
** To be counted towards the Environmental Studies Major, students must complete an environmental internship approved by the convenor.
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