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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2016/2017

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences)

Postgraduate Course: Values and the Environment (P) (PGGE11114)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Geosciences CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course examines issues related to modes of human valuing of nature, mainly the ethical and the aesthetic. The course covers, first, key concepts and theories in environmental ethics including (normally): anthropocentrism and nonanthropocentrism; animal ethics; Leopold¿s land ethic; and deep ecology. Second, we examine aesthetic value in our engagement with nature and cultural landscapes. Finally, we look at conflicts between aesthetic, ethical and other values as they arise in various environmental problems, such as environmental justice, ecological restoration and climate change.
Course description Week 1. Environmental Values
Week 2. Extending Ethics to Nonhuman Animals
Week 3. Animal Ethics in Context
Week 4. The Land Ethic
Week 5. Deep Ecology
Week 6. Aesthetic Value and Environment
Week 7. Environment and the Arts
Week 8. Environmental Justice
Week 9. Ecological Restoration and Rewilding
Week 10. Ethics and Climate Change
Week 11. Course review
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2016/17, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  21
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Placement Study Abroad Hours 11, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 163 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Course essay (3000 words) 70%
Individual oral presentation 30%
Reading portfolio (1500 words) 0%

The individual oral presentations are 15 minutes, using powerpoint slides and assessed based on the presentation only. The reading portfolio is for summative assessment only.

Submission of essay and reading portfolio is via Learn as well as a hard copy.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand, critically and in detail, environmental ethics and its key concepts and theories;
  2. Understand how aesthetic value relates to a range of environments, from the wild to the cultural;
  3. Understand the role of values in engagement with a range of environments and the conflicts that arise between values in conservation and policy-making;
  4. Express their own critical thinking on environmental values in discussion and in writing, which will be informed by recent, relevant developments;
  5. Demonstrate some originality and creativity in dealing with professional level issues and practise critically identifying and analysing complex problems (in individual work and in group discussions).
Reading List
Armstrong, Susan.J. and Botzler, R. eds. (2004) Environmental Ethics: Divergence and Convergence. McGraw-Hill.

Brady, Emily (2003) Aesthetics of the Natural Environment. Edinburgh University Press.

DesJardins, Joseph (2000) Environmental Ethics. Wadsworth.

Gardiner, Stephen et al., ed. (2010) Climate Ethics: Essential Readings. Oxford University Press.

Gardiner, Stephen M. and Thompson, Allen, eds. (2016) The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics. Oxford. Ebook.

Hourdequin, Marion (2015) Environmental Ethics: From Theory to Practice. Bloomsbury Academic.

Jamieson, Dale (2003) A Companion to Environmental Philosophy. Blackwell. Ebook.

James, Simon (2015) Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction. Polity.

Keller, David. ed. (2010) Environmental Ethics: The Big Questions. Wiley.

Leopold, Aldo ([1949] 2000) The Land Ethic/Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press.

O¿Neill John, Light Andrew, and Holland Alan (2008) Environmental Values. Routledge.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsPGGE1114,environmental ethics,environmental aesthetics,values,conservation,philosophy
Contacts
Course organiserProf Emily Brady
Tel: (0131 6)50 9137
Email: Emily.Brady@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Paula Escobar
Tel: (0131 6)50 2543
Email: paula.escobar@ed.ac.uk
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