Module: EM7503-15 - Environment and Society: Global Perspectives on Policy and Practice

Level: 7

Credit Value: 15

Module Tutor: James Jeffers

Module Tutor Contact Details: j.jeffers@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module

This module gives you opportunity to develop a deeper, critical understanding of the human dimensions of environmental change. The module is firmly rooted in an environmental social science that will develop your sense of the multi-layered and contested nature of environmental ‘problems’ and the ‘solutions’ variously proposed. A broad, interdisciplinary and critical awareness is encouraged through consideration of academic and policy literatures from different global and historical contexts.

2. Outline Syllabus & Teaching & Learning Methods

Typical session themes include: sustainability and science; risk and hazard perception; environmental implications of economic growth; expert versus lay environmental knowledge; communication and management; differential social impacts of climate change; mitigation and adaptation strategies; the basis of environmental law and policy; national and international agreements, protocols and treaties. The module is delivered in seminar format with key material considered in depth through both staff-led and student-led seminar work. Key readings are explored in detail as the basis for discussion and further critical study. There is one summative assessment, a negotiated paper where you will negotiate a topic with tutors that examines an environmental challenge and response in any global context from a social scientific perspective.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Coursework
• Description: Negotiated paper than critically analyses a human- environment interaction (3500 - 5000 words)
• % Weighting: 100%