History of Environment and Technologies
space
Course code
AIG6343.HT
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Keskkonna- ja tehnoloogia ajalugu
Course title in English
History of Environment and Technologies
ECTS credits
6.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2023/2024 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2024/2025 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Course aims
Both, environmental history and the history of science and technology (STS) became in the last 50 years important independent subdisciplines of history writing. Coming from different research traditions, both try to find new ways of how to speak about the entangeld co-evolution of human cultures with the environment (climate, animals, plants, microbes) and technology. In Estonia, both disciplines are relatively new. This means for young scholars many topics to research that are important not only on the local or national, but also on the international and even global level.

During the course we will speak about
• similarities of both disciplines, common umbrella terms and linking questions;
• the different histories and forms of institutionalisation of both disciplines;
• main events and thresholds in the history of environment and technology;
• research questions, methods, scholars and research centers of both disciplines;
• state of art in Estonian environmental humanities;
• new important topics of research in both disciplines.

Studens have the possibility to discuss what the anthropocene means for human cultures and societies today with the teachers and among each others. During the course we try to counterbalance academic research (exam and essay) and creative group work.
Brief description of the course
Students
• prepare with the help of the given literature for each lesson and take actively part in the seminars;
• follow the presentations critically and ask questions;
• take part in the creative group work and prepare a video, piece of music or art, experiment or game;
• present the groupwork in front of the class;
• prepare for the exam with the help of the given literature and class materials and pass is;
• write an essay on a chosen topic that relates with the course following the given style sheet.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- has acquired new knowledge during the seminars and by individual reading;
- has growing abilities to plan and run a creative project in a group and to present and defend it;
- has developed skills in individual research and academic writing.
Teacher
Ulrike Plath
space