Undergraduate Course: Living in the Anthropocene (GESC08004)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Living in the Anthropocene brings together an interdisciplinary community of staff and students to engage with, and tackle, climate, environmental, and nature crises. The course develops key knowledge, skills and competencies to support you to contribute to more sustainable, equitable and just futures. You will work with students from other academic disciplines to research and design an action project in response to a specific aspect of climate or nature crisis. In the process you will develop communication and collaboration skills; learn to understand and appreciate different perspectives; and think critically about bringing about change. The course will also support you to reflect critically on your learning experience, values and worldview developing skills for lifelong learning that support you to make a positive difference in a changing and uncertain world. |
| Course description |
The Anthropocene is one of contemporary science's - and society's - hottest concepts. For some the scale, magnitude, and global impact of human activities on environments, ecosystems and the climate warrant the claim that we are entering a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The course will empower you to engage critically with the idea of the Anthropocene and to think, be, and act in response to climate and nature crises.
The course is built on the recognition that the key challenges of the Anthropocene are complex, dynamic and multifaceted and that understanding and tackling these challenges requires working across the boundaries of academic disciplines. In the course, you will experience teaching where multiple disciplinary lenses and different approaches come together in dialogue around specific themes (like carbon, energy, water, plastic, or sea level rise). You will examine the interactions between scientific knowledge and economic, political, social and cultural processes involved in making and tackling of climate and nature crises. You will learn how taking action for more sustainable planetary futures requires scientific knowledge; collaboration; an openness to different perspectives; a commitment to social justice; and communication.
The course emphasises the importance of working together, working across boundaries and developing shared approaches to imagining and making more sustainable and equitable futures. Tutorials and practicals will support the development of key skills that will prepare you to contribute to positive change. You will develop skills in teamwork; data and numerical literacy; cultural sensitivity; design thinking; communication; and reflective practice. You will apply these skills through a group project in which you will work in a small group of students from different academic disciplines to design and propose an action that responds to a specific aspect of climate or nature crisis. Reflective practice will be embedded in the course and assessment to support you to critically examine your learning, to build habits for lifelong learning, and to identify your values, skills and visions for the future.
The course is delivered through a modular structure organised around a series of interdisciplinary topics (see appendix 1 for overview of course structure). In weeks 1 and 2 all students will complete the introduction to the course and the idea of the Anthropocene. Between weeks 3 to 8, you will complete your choice of 3 x 2-week modules. Each 2-week module provides an introduction and opportunity to examine a key topic in the Anthropocene (e.g. Carbon, Energy, Plastic, Water, Food). In weeks 9-10 the focus will be on supporting students on the completion of a proposal for an action that responds to a specific aspect of climate or nature. In week 11 there will be a course exhibition where you group's proposal for an action will be shared with a public audience.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 11,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 17,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
135 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
There are 2 component of summative assessment in the course: «br /»
«br /»
Reflective blogs (60%) «br /»
«br /»
Group project (40%) |
| Feedback |
Students on the course will received feedback via:
Summative feedback on reflective blogs and group project
Formative feedback on reflective blog 1
Staff and peer feedback on design documents during weekly group project practicals
Lecture, tutorial, practical and preparatory tasks will provide regular opportunities to practice and receive feedback on reflective practice.
Weekly drop-in workshops will provide opportunities for feedback on any course material or assessment.
Regular WooClap and Blackboard (Learn) quizzes will provide opportunities for students to gauge understanding of key concepts and methods.. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of interdisciplinary approaches and key concepts relevant to understanding challenges of climate and nature crises.
- Investigate complex issues by integrating insights from a range of disciplines and methodological approaches.
- Design and manage a collaborative action project as part of an interdisciplinary team.
- Apply critical thinking, design methods and acting ethically when proposing an action project.
- Reflect on, and evaluate, their learning and development.
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Reading List
Editorial. Are we in the Anthropocene Yet? Nature. 627, p466. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00815-0
Lewis, S and Maslin, M. (2015). Defining the Anthropocene. Nature. 519, pp.171-180.
Lewis, S. and Maslin, M. (2018). The Human Planet: How we created the Anthropocene. London: Pelican Books.
Mackay, D. (2009). Sustainable Energy without the hot air. London: Green Books.
Maslin, M. (2021). How to Save our Planet. London: Pelican Books.
Ritchie, H. (2024). Not the End of the World: How we can Be the First Generation to Build and Sustainable Planet. London: Chatto & Windus.
Yusoff, K. (2018). A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None. Minneapolis, MI: University of Minessota Press.
https://sdgs.un.org/goals |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Data, numerical and digital literacy, and critical thinking: a key focus in the course is building student confidence in identifying and challenging mis-information relating to climate and nature crises. This will be a key focus in live lecture formats and tutorial activities. Students will develop and apply these skills in their group projects. 2. Group projects provide space for students to take risks and think boldly in response to climate and nature crises. They allow for student curiosity and will emphasise both problem-solving (demonstrating creativity and adaptability) and cultural sensitivity (demonstrating empathy in design of group projects that recognise and respect needs, perspectives and values of others).
3. Collaboration: students will develop and apply skills in working with, and learning from others via group projects. They will learn about teamwork and develop skills in fostering inclusion, resolving conflicts and building effective relationships. Practicals will develop key skills and the reflective blogs will scaffold critical reflection and personal resilience. 4. Communication: students will be supported to develop communication skills in 2 key ways: i) effective in-group communication (active listening, consensus building, managing expectations) to achieve common goals on the group projects, and ii) skills in synthesising research and story-telling through a creative output to influence others. 5. Reflection: reflective practice is embedded throughout the course to support students to reflect critically on their learning experience, values and worldviews. The course support the development of skills for lifelong learning that support you to make a positive difference in a changing and uncertain world. Reflective practice, coupled with activities towards the group project aims to develop personal resilience. |
| Keywords | climate crisis,nature crisis,interdisciplinary learning,climate action |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Daniel Swanton
Tel: (0131 6)50 8164
Email: dan.swanton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Kathryn Will
Tel: (0131 6)50 2624
Email: Kath.Will@ed.ac.uk |
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