PSY-30160 - Module Specification
School of Psychology
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

Climate change or human change? How can psychology contribute to our understanding of climate change and the need for climate action?
These are the core questions addressed in the module ‘Psychology of Climate change’. Taking a historical and contemporary perspective through a psychological lens we will provide an in-depth understanding of human areas impacting the climate negatively, as well as discussing short- and long-term human impacts fighting the climate change. You will be part of discussing the impact (good or bad?) of human behaviour through topics such as politics, disasters, social and climate in/justice, recycling, and behaviour change.
The module mixes weekly taught interactive sessions and problem-based seminars. The problem-based seminars will allow you to broaden your perspective through discussions in small groups as well as give you agency within each topic to focus on your interests, limitations, and relevance for your future career.

This module aims to provide students with a broader understanding of the human involvement in climate change, both in relation to the problem and the solution. This module will provide students with tools to critically reflect on individual, collective, societal, and global behaviours and concepts in relation to climate change.

Intended Learning Outcomes

critically appraise and apply relevant literature within specific areas of climate change: 1
critically reflect upon human causes of climate change and short- and long-term sustainability: 1
design and communicate a strategy plan using theory and research to analyse the problem and offer sustainable solutions in the climate change context: 1

Study hours

10h synchronous whole group interactive session
10h PBL style seminar

10h asynchronous material in preparation for PBL seminars
120h independent reading*
*Independent reading:
Students are expected to spend approximately 7.5h per week independently finding and reading literature to address the question they have created that week in their seminar group (approx. 75h).
Students are expected to spend approximately 45h writing up the assessment (approx. 45h; literature and narrative already created in the seminars).

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment