Environmental History explores the ways in which human societies, cultures, and economies have imagined and shaped, as well as been shaped by, the natural world across time and place. The paper will focus on introducing students to range of key research areas in the field, with an emphasis on the global and trans-national underpinnings of environmental history. Through case studies, we will examine the theoretical and methodological approaches of environmental history, as well as consider the interdisciplinary relevance of historical perspectives on environmental change.

This seminar-based paper will centre around discussions of key texts and current research in the field of environmental history, examining varied topics in the field and evaluating what is distinctive about environmental history research methods and theory, and its influence on the wider discipline and other environmental scholarship. In addition, students have the opportunity to research diverse topics in environmental history in their essay and unessay assignments.

HISTY512 involves three hours of seminar discussion per week alongside independent reading and research. While much learning at graduate level is self-directed, these seminars are an important space where we come together to think through the methods, ideas, and practices in our discipline. To be successful, they require a shared commitment from the group to the collective enterprise of historical analysis.

You are expected to attend and actively participate in all scheduled seminar sessions. This involves coming to seminars well-prepared: having read the required readings, taken suitable notes, and formulated your own thoughts and questions about them that you are ready to share with our group. You should equally be ready to listen carefully and respond thoughtfully to the ideas of others.

Some sessions will involve student presentations and discussion leadership, and students are expected to engage respectfully with their peers as academic colleagues.

This graduate paper is worth 30 points, equating to 300 hours work over the semester on the basis that one point equates to roughly 10 hours work. This averages out to 20 hours a week, or half-time work, for the fifteen weeks of semester (including both the mid-semester break and study week). Note that this is double the amount of time expected for a 15 point undergraduate paper.

Scheduled classes and meetings take up around 35 hours, and therefore you should expect to commit at least 250 hours outside class time for reading, research, writing, and other activities related to the paper. This time commitment reflects the fact that research and learning at graduate level requires more intensive planning and preparation than undergraduate study, and an increased level of self-directed and focussed learning in order to best benefit from our seminar time together. Be careful to plan ahead and commit the appropriate amount of time to your reading, writing, class attendance and research throughout the semester.