Climate and Crisis: Past and Present

Course Objective
- At the end of the course, the student will understand the basic
concepts and methods used within the fields of environmental and climate
history, and is able to successfully and critically apply these in
his/her own writing.
- At the end of the course, the student will understand the primary
themes and debates within the fields of in environmental and climate
history, and is able to engage with these themes/debates in his/her own
writing, an oral presentation, and a classroom debate.
- At the end of the course,the student is able to reflect critically on
concepts such as 'climate-induced disasters', ‘ the Medieval Warm
Period’, ‘Little Ice Age’, and ‘the Anthropocene’, from an historical
perspective
- At the end of the course, the student is able to write a short paper
on a question regarding a specific theme/debate within the limits of the
course, based on a critical historiographic survey.
- In week 6 of the course, the student is able to give an (oral) group
presentation regarding a critical argumentative analysis of a
challenging conceptual/theoretical text.
- In week 6 of the course, the student is able to prepare and
participate in a classroom group discussion on a controversial topic
related to the course.

Course Content
This course provides students with an historical perspective on climatic
change and how it affected humans and their environment from the Middle
Ages to the present. It brings together the fields of climate history
and environmental history with elements from social and cultural studies
to discuss various social and environmental responses to climate change
and climate-induced disasters in the past, for example, severe droughts,
extreme cold, major epidemics, and all-consuming fires. The primary aim
of the course is to provide the students with a historical reflection
and conceptualisation of climatic change and climate-induced disasters,
along the lines of central concepts, such as 'the Medieval Warm Period',
'the Little Ice Age', and 'the Anthropocene'. Another important theme is
the societal adaptation to climatic change, by which societies aimed to
alleviate or cope with the threat of climate-induced disasters, becoming
more resilient or vulnerable as time passed by. Examples of questions
that will be discussed in this course are: to what were extent were
climate-induced disasters in the past the result of human actions
and/or climatic aspects? How did societies became more
resilient/vulnerable to specific climate-induced disasters? And what, if
at all, can we learn from the history of how people dealt with climate
change in the past? This course is also open to students from different
disciplines and backgrounds, which allows for an international and
interdisciplinary classroom.

Teaching Methods
2 seminars of 2 hours per week (total = 4 contact hours per week) in
period 4. Attendance is mandatory (80%) to pass the course.

Method of Assessment
- 3 compulsory reading assignments as part of 3 seminars. These reading
assignments are comprised of small essays (max. 300-500 words) which
count as complete/incomplete (for a completed essay, students are graded
either a 7 or an 8), which count as 20% of the final grade and must all
be completed to pass the course.

- A small historiographic paper regarding a specific question related to
a theme within course. This paper (max. 1000-2000 words excl.
annotation/bibliography) is based on a critical
historiographic/conceptual survey and counts as 60% of the final grade.
The paper must be graded sufficient (>5,5) to pass the course.

-A presentation and debate during week 6. Students are required to read
a specific text in groups, and are expected to (briefly, c.a. 10
minutes) present the main arguments/concepts. Before the presentation,
all groups have to submit preparatory notes (max. 300-500 words) as a
main outline of their presentation. Subsequently, the same groups will
participate in a debate (Oxford-style) during the next seminar. Both the
presentation and the participation in the discussion will be graded as
20% of the final grade. As this concerns a group assignment, students
will receive one grade for their group as a whole instead of individual
grades. The discussion and preparation is not subjected to a resit:
groups whose preparation and participation in the debate are deemed
insufficient are graded an automatic 5 for this assignment.

Entry Requirements
This course is open to BA2 students Geschiedenis (Dutch BA) and BA2
students History and International Studies, which have completed the
basic academic skills course year 1. Students from outside the
Geschiedenis or History and International Studies BA programmes
(including exchange students) must consult with the course coordinator
before enrolling.

Literature
All required and additional readings are electronically available via
the VU library. The required readings will be made available by the
lecturer via Canvas.

Target Audience
This course is open for students from the Geschiedenis and History and
International Studies BA programmes, as well as students from other BA
programmes and exchange students. See also entry requirements.
Recommended background knowledge
Basic knowledge of and/or an affinity with historical research is
recommended.