Unit Outline

In the modern era humanity has transformed landscapes, cleared forests, driven species to extinction, and spread poisons across the whole Earth. The practices and ideas underpinning this degradation and pollution is the subject of an area of study called environmental history, which asks how people’s actions and ideas about the natural world have changed over time. This unit will study how people have imagined and changed the environment at a global scale since the rise of global European empires, concentrating on the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. Our central themes will be extraction, institutions, and justice. Extraction takes in mining, agriculture, plantation forestry, and bioprospecting—it changes landscapes and social relations. Institutions, whether governmental, scientific or civil society, shape how environments are known, felt, and governed. And justice reminds us that different people feel the effects of environmental change and development differently, in their livelihoods and into their body’s cells. This unit will also consider and historicise key concepts, including wilderness, Anthropocene, nature, and the commons, among others.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Analyse human responses to and influences on the environment in the past
2	Apply a historical lens to environments and landscapes
3	Conceptualise change and connections across different temporal and geographical scales and contexts
4	Communicate sophisticated descriptions and analyses about landscapes, objects, events and developments according to the conventions of the discipline of history

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	25 credit points at Introductory level or higher

Alterations as a result of student feedback

N/A -- New unit

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Public History Project	Week 7	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Participation and Engagement	Week 12	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Research Essay	Week 14	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Public History Project

Task Description:

Create a poster or other non-essay public history output based around a historic object

Task Length:

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Engagement with historical collections	LO1, LO2
2	Engagement with unit themes	LO1, LO2, LO3
3	Communication of message and narrative	LO2, LO4
4	Use of quality and relevant sources	LO1, LO2
5	Clear writing and coherent structure	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Participation and Engagement

Task Description:

Engage and participate in weekly learning activities

Task Length:

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Constructive engagement in learning and discussions	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
2	Generation of historical questions and framing of historical answers about environments	LO1, LO2
3	Demonstrated learning by completing set activities	LO2, LO4
4	Demonstrated learning by iterating knowledge across semester	LO1, LO2, LO4
5	Communication through clear writing and oral/verbal presentations	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Research Essay

Task Description:

Write a research essay exploring the environmental history of a particular place or landscape

Task Length:

2000 word

Due Date:

Week 14

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Engagement with unit themes	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Clear and well-evidenced argument within relevant contexts	LO1, LO2, LO3
3	Use of quality and relevant sources	LO1, LO2
4	Clear writing and coherent structure	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.