ESC-10041 - People and the Environment
Coordinator: Peter Knight Room: WSF30 Tel: +44 1782 7 34304
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733615

Programme/Approved Electives for 2023/24

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None


Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2023/24

The relationship between people and the environment is a core overlap between Physical Geography, Human Geography and Environmental subjects. This module adopts a Geographical perspective on environmental issues and on some approaches to tackling them (from both natural science and social science perspectives). In particular, we consider environmental hazards, how people use the environment as a resource, the impacts people have on the environment, the ways in which people can try to manage those impacts, and the future of our relationship with the environment.

Aims
To enable students to develop an understanding and appreciation of a range of environmental issues and different approaches to tackling these issues, in particular addressing questions of environmental hazards, how we use the environment as a resource, the impacts we have on the environment, and how we can try to manage those impacts.

Intended Learning Outcomes

describe the ways in which people interact with their environment, and society's approaches to dealing with environmental issues: 1,2
outline the complementary nature of physical science and social science approaches to engaging with environmental issues: 1,2
account for the relationship between scientific knowledge and the contested interpretation of information in the environmental context: 1,2
gather and synthesize information from appropriate published sources, and use this information to discuss, in written form, a variety of environmental topics: 1,2

Study hours

22 hours scheduled interactive live-class sessions
32 hours directed work using online resources connected to each live class
32 hours research and writing for the Literature Review assessment
32 hours research and writing for the Workbook assessment
32 hours flexible weekly independent research time

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Literature Review weighted 50%
2000 word literature-review essay
A coursework literature-review essay of 2000 words (plus a correctly formatted reference list), giving students the opportunity to explore issues raised in their choice of one of the module's case-study topics.

2: Workbook weighted 50%
short-answer coursework exercise
A workbook of short text-based and image-based exercises that students will complete step-by-step as they progress through the module, completing tasks associated with sections of the course.