Entry requirements

Students admitted to the Master programme of the Faculty of Arts or a Bachelor's degree.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course the students will be able to:

• critically assess and analyse interactions between societal processes, environment and climate variability from a historical perspective.
• critically assess and analyse the importance of an integrated and historical understanding in relation to solving present day problems of sustainability.
• review and assess the applicability of theoretical models available within the field of historical ecology.
• apply a historical ecological framework to a case study.

Content

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an overview of the theoretical frameworks offered by historical ecology for understanding interactions between society, environment and climate as well as their particular complexities. The importance of an integrated and long-term understanding of these complex interactions in comprehending and solving present day problems of sustainability will be discussed and critically assessed. Examples of applying a historical ecological framework to local cross-disciplinary case studies will be given. Students will also apply historical ecological analyses to their own material/or chosen material, which may become part of a larger project or result in scientific papers.

Instruction

The course consists of lectures aimed at providing an overview of different applications of historical ecology. Group discussions will be based on a subject of interest and/or a chosen case study for an essay or paper. Supervision regarding subject, framework and style will be provided by the coordinating teacher and lecturers as part of the course. The course will be given in English if a non-Swedish speaking student or teacher attends the course. Otherwise it will be given in Swedish.

Assessment

The course will be examined through individual student papers or essays. These may form part of a larger project or be the foundation for a scientific paper. Active participation in lectures, seminars and group discussions is required. Unless special circumstances apply, Pass with distinction (VG) cannot be obtained if the examination paper is overdue. The examination will be done in Swedish or English.