ZA131 Environmental history

Faculty of Science
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lukáš Dolák, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Péter Szabó, Ph.D. M.A. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lukáš Dolák, Ph.D.
Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: Mgr. Lukáš Dolák, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Timetable
Thu 13:00–14:50 Z5,02004
Prerequisites
The course is intended for postgraduate (MSc) students. General knowledge of changes in environment and landscape at the undergraduate (BSc) level is required to attend the course.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main aim of the course is to familiarise the students with the relationship between human society and the European landscape in the last 12 000 years. Even though the accent will be put on the Czech landscape, all factors of landscape changes will be discussed in the European (and global) context. The students will also discover a comprehensive and systematic approach to environmental history that contributes to coping with the consequences of recent regional and global environmental problems (e.g. deforestation, climate change). The course deals with the analysing of possible future trends of recent regional and global environmental problems. Moreover, the students will gain the necessary knowledge and overview of past and current activities in the field of environmental history.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the students will understand the fundamentals of the relationship between human society and the European landscape during the Holocene. They will be able to realize and identify the recent regional and global consequences of the interaction between human society and landscape. Moreover, the students will better understand the evolution of that relationship in the past. Last but not least, the students will gain the necessary knowledge and overview of past and current activities in the field of environmental history.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction into environmental history
  • 2. Data sources and methods in environmental history
  • 3. People and nature in prehistory
  • 4. Environmental history: global perspective
  • 5. Ancient civilizations: their rise and fall
  • 6. Climate matters: an influence of climate variability on human societies
  • 7. Forests from global and regional perspectives
  • 8. Environmental history of the Czech Republic
  • 9. A matter of climate change
  • 10. Historical climatology
  • 11. Environmental migration
  • 12. Milestones of environmental history
Literature
    recommended literature
  • CARSON, Rachel. Silent spring. London: Penguin Books, 1999, 323 p. ISBN 0141184949. info
  • Global environmental history : an introductory reader. Edited by John Robert McNeill - Alan Roe. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013, xxvi, 449. ISBN 9780415520539. info
  • MCNEILL, John Robert and Peter ENGELKE. The great acceleration : an environmental history of the anthropocene since 1945. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap press of Harvard university press, 2014, 275 stran. ISBN 9780674545038. info
  • PFISTER, Ch., Wanner, H. Climate and Society in Europe. Bern: Haupt, 2021, 397 p. ISBN 978-3-258-08234-9
  • LJUNGQVIST, F. C. et al. (2021): Climate and society in European history. WIREs Climate Change, 12, 2, e691.
  • WHITE, S. A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe’s Encounter with North America. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard, 2017. 361 p. ISBN 0674971922
  • ELLIS, E. C. et al. (2021): People have shaped most of terrestrial nature for at least 12,000 years. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, 17, e2023483118.
Teaching methods
The theoretical lectures represent the main teaching method. During the lectures, significant attention will be paid to discussing the relevant topics related to environmental history. The accent will be put on an engagement of all students in the discussed themes.
Assessment methods
Written test based on theoretical lectures.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/autumn2023/ZA131