ENS288 Environmental History I

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2017
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Filip Havlíček (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Lubor Kysučan, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Veronika Išová
Supplier department: Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 15:15–16:45 U33
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 21 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The main goal of the course is to make students familiar with the subject and methodology of environmental history and the evolution of interactions between nature and human civilization from prehistory utill now. The natural disasters and devastation of environment and the consequent economical and social crises contributed to the collapses of many highly developed civilizations of past. The lecture is aimed at the history of ecological crises and their impact on stability of ancient civilizations (Egypt, Middle East, Far East, Pre-Columbian civilizations of Latin America, Greece, Rome), attitude toward the nature in the Middle Ages as well as the radical change of environment and landscape in the modern period. The attention will be paid also to the attempts of nature protection and conservation (religious taboos, „green“ legislation) and environmental ideas included in the philoophy and world religions of respective periods as well as the aesthetic dimension of nature perception. The lecture will be based on the interpretation of litterary, artistic and archaeological sources and will be accompanied with pp-presentation, film projections and field trip.
Syllabus
  • 1. Environmental history – subject definition and its interdisciplinary character, methodology and sources. 2. Environment and human civilization. Nature as sacred spacce. Sacrality of nature and profane practice. 3. Human attitude toward the nature in the prehistory. Hunter-gatherers societies. Neolithic revolution and its consequencies. The influence of nature conditions on the development of early civilizations. 4. The nature disasters in the history (volcanism, floods, earthquakes). The flood myth. 5. The climatic changes in the history and environmental migration. 6. Environmental disasters in the civilizations of ancient Mediterranean, Middle East, India, Far East and Pre-Columbian America – degradation of arable soil, deforestation. The impact of environmental problems on the collapse of ancient civilizations. 7. The cultural landcscape of the ancient world. The attitude toward the nature in the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. The lifestyle of ancient man in the context of the attitude toward the nature. The escape in the nature, thy myth of the country, arcadian landcsape and bucolic poetry. The criticism of the consumerism and search for the alternatives in the philosophy, religion and the everyday life. The attitude toward the animals and plants in the ancient culture. The domestic animals, hunting and games. Vegetarianism in the classical antiquity. 8. The environmental problems of ancient Mediterrannean. Deforestation. The globalization of the economy and the globalization of the economic problems. The ancient agriculture in the socio-economic and environmental context. The ancient city and its economic problems. Care about environment in the antiquity – administration and legislation. 9. The environment and landscape in the Middle Ages. Agricultural colonization and its impact. 10. The expansion of the occidental civilization in the modern period and its environmental impact. Exploratory voayages, colonization of the non-European countries. 11. The industrial revolution and its consequencies. Conceptualization and politization of the environment. Environmental movement. Institutionalization of the nature conservation and environment protection. 12. Environmental history of the Czech Lands. Early medieval colonization. Economic development in early modern period, the phenomenon of the ponds. The phenomenon of the baroque landscape. Industrialization and its impact.
Literature
    required literature
  • DIAMOND, Jared M. Kolaps : proč společnosti zanikají a přežívají. Translated by Zdeněk Urban. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2008, 751 s. ISBN 9788020015891. info
  • HUGHES, J. Donald. An environmental history of the world : humankind's changing role in the community of life. 1st pub. London: Routledge, 2001, xiv, 264. ISBN 0415136180. info
  • LIBROVÁ, Hana. Láska ke krajině? Vyd. 1. V Brně: Blok, 1988, 165 s. URL info
    recommended literature
  • DIAMOND, Jared M. Osudy lidských společností : střelné zbraně, choroboplodné zárodky a ocel v historii. Translated by Zdeněk Urban. 1. vyd. Praha: Columbus, 2000, 525 s. ISBN 8072490478. info
  • GOJDA, Martin. Archeologie krajiny : vývoj archetypů kulturní krajiny. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2000, 238 s. ISBN 8020007806. info
  • GROVE, A. T. and Oliver RACKHAM. The nature of Mediterranean Europe : an ecological history. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001, 384 s. ISBN 0300100558. info
  • BROWN, N. History and Climate Change: An Eurocentric Perspective. London: Routledge, 2001
  • GARNSEY, P. – SCHEIDEL, W. Cities, peasants and food in the Classical Antiquity. Essays in social and economic history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004
  • LÖW, Jiří and Igor MÍCHAL. Krajinný ráz. 1. vyd. Kostelec nad Černými Lesy: Lesnická práce, 2003, 552 s. ISBN 8086386279. info
  • HUGHES, J. D. Pan‘s Travail: Environemntal Problems of Ancient Greeks and Romans. Baltimore, 1994
  • SCHAMA, Simon. Krajina a paměť. Translated by Petr Pálenský. Vyd. 1. Praha: Argo, 2007, 702 s. ISBN 9788073630713. info
  • THOMMEN, Lukas. An environmental history of ancient Greece and Rome. Translated by Philip Hill. Rev. English ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, xi, 186. ISBN 9780521174657. info
  • THÜRY, G. E. Die Wurzeln unserer Umweltkrise und die griechisch-römische Antike. Salzburg: Otto Müller Verlag, 1995.
  • VÖGLER, G. Öko-Griechen und die grüne Römer. Düsseldorf-Zürich: Artemis Winkler Verlag, 1997.
  • WEBER, K. W. Smog über Attika. Zürich-München, 1990.
Teaching methods
– lecture – seminar discussion – film projection – home lecture
Assessment methods
– written test – essay/presentation
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2017, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2017/ENS288