ENSb1288 Environmental History I

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2020
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Péter Szabó, Ph.D. M.A. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Lubor Kysučan, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Lubor Kysučan, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Bc. Petra Burišková
Supplier department: Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 16:00–17:40 U34
Prerequisites
! ENS288 Environmental History &&!NOW( ENS288 Environmental History )
Student has basic orientation in the world history, is familiar with prinicipial concepts of environmental science and has excellent knowledge of English enabling attending the course taught in English and to study English literature.
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
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.
Learning outcomes
Student is able to collect and compare environmental data coming from different periods of human history and he or she is able to apply adopted methdology of the discipline in the reserach and interpretation of environmental phenomena in different periods of history.
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
  • BROWN, N. History and Climate Change: An Eurocentric Perspective. London: Routledge, 2001
  • DIAMOND, J. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York-London, 2005
  • 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
  • SCHAMA, S. Landscape and memory. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1995
    recommended literature
  • GARNSEY, P. – SCHEIDEL, W. Cities, peasants and food in the Classical Antiquity. Essays in social and economic history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004
  • 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
  • HUGHES, J. D. Pan‘s Travail: Environemntal Problems of Ancient Greeks and Romans. Baltimore, 1994
  • 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
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2020/ENSb1288